Former Seoul police chief denies he was ordered to arrest politicians on martial law night

Home > National > Politics

Former Seoul police chief denies he was ordered to arrest politicians on martial law night

Published: 13 Feb. 2025, 17:21 Updated: 13 Feb. 2025, 18:59

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Bong-sik takes the witness oath at the eighth hearing of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 13. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

The former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) denied at the eighth hearing of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment trial on Thursday that he was ordered to arrest key politicians on the night Yoon declared martial law.

Kim Bong-sik, who served as SMPA commissioner until his resignation amid the fallout over Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law, also testified that the president did not command him to block access to the National Assembly, where lawmakers gathered to hold a vote rescinding Yoon’s decree.

The former SMPA chief said he and National Police Agency (NPA) Commissioner Cho Ji-ho decided to send police to block access to the legislature after discussing it among themselves.

In response to a question by Yoon’s lawyers as to whether the police presence at the National Assembly on the night of Dec. 3 was intended to “maintain order,” Kim simply replied, “Yes.”

Kim also denied that he discussed coordinating police movements with the Defense Counterintelligence Command in his meeting with Yoon and Cho around 6 p.m. on Dec. 3.

Kim said that the meeting with Yoon and Cho “barely lasted 10 minutes” while being questioned by the National Assembly’s impeachment investigation committee, which is acting as the prosecuting authority in the president’s impeachment trial.

He testified he heard from Cho that the president called to thank him for “taking swift early measures that helped end the state of martial law.”

Former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min also said at the seventh hearing of the trial on Tuesday that Yoon expressed gratitude to Cho for “ensuring no bloodshed occurred by allowing lawmakers to enter” the legislature on the night martial law was declared

However, both Kim and Lee’s testimonies are at odds with allegations from the state prosecution service and the National Assembly committee that Yoon ordered police officials to block access to the National Assembly.

The committee has also accused Yoon of ordering the country’s defense and intelligence forces to arrest several high-ranking politicians.

At the fifth hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial on Feb. 4, former National Intelligence Service (NIS) First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won testified that he handwrote a memo listing which individuals should be detained during a phone call at 11:06 p.m. on Dec. 3 with then-Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung.

Hong said the call took place outside NIS chief Cho Tae-yong’s official residence, where he said he had gone to report Yoon’s martial law declaration.

The NIS deputy director also said Yoon ordered him over the phone that night to “take this chance to round all of them up.”

However, the president said he only called Hong to check if Cho was in the country or on a work trip to the United States.

National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong testifies at the eighth hearing of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 13. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Cho, who testified at Thursday’s hearing, said that he checked surveillance footage from Dec. 3 and saw Hong was inside the NIS headquarters at the time he wrote the list of people mentioned by Yeo.

Cho claimed that Hong embellished later versions of the memo by circling the names of some individuals and adding remarks that they were wanted by the Defense Counterintelligence Command.

Though Hong said at the Feb. 4 hearing that there were two versions of the note, including one transcribed by an aide, Cho testified on Thursday that there were two more versions: one that Hong asked an aide to write again from memory on Dec. 4 and a fourth note with more names than the third.

The NIS chief also cast doubts about Hong’s political neutrality in the impeachment trial.

According to Cho, a Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker who formerly served in the spy agency told him that Hong had “asked for help finding a position in the DP seven times.”

Upon further questioning by one of Yoon’s lawyers, Cho said that the lawmaker in question was either Rep. Park Jie-won or Rep. Park Sun-won, but did not specify which.

Supporters of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol hold a ceremony marking the launch of a so-called public defense team at the Cheonggye Plaza in central Seoul on Feb. 13. [NEWS1]

Yoon’s lawyers have argued that Hong should be made to testify again to resolve what they have characterized as “inconsistencies” between his testimony and Yeo’s, as well as to answer questions about his text exchange with Park Jie-won on the night martial law was declared.

Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae said Thursday that the court will hold an additional hearing at 2 p.m. on Feb. 18 to review evidence that has been registered with the court but not yet been examined.

Moon also said the court will allow Yoon's lawyers and the National Assembly committee two hours each at the ninth hearing to present their arguments regarding witness testimonies and documentary evidence presented thus far during the trial.

The president’s lawyers have argued that the court should take more time to resolve alleged discrepancies between witness testimonies and hear from more individuals who were involved in Yoon’s martial law declaration.

Update, Feb. 13: More testimony by Hong and Cho added.
Update, Feb. 13: Justice Moon's announcement of the ninth hearing on Feb. 18 added.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]