Former Special Warfare Commander Faces Arrest in Emergency Martial Law Investigation

On December 15, 2024, the Special Investigation Headquarters, led by Park Se-hyun, the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, announced that they have requested an arrest warrant for former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun in connection with the investigation into the 'December 3 Emergency Martial Law' incident. Kwak has publicly stated that during the martial law, he received a call from President Yoon Suk-yeol instructing him to 'break down the doors of the National Assembly and extract personnel.' He revealed this information during a session of the National Defense Committee on December 10, mentioning that the call was made via a secure phone. Furthermore, he claimed that on December 1, he was tasked by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to secure six locations, including the National Assembly and the Democratic Party headquarters, in preparation for the emergency situation. The Special Investigation Headquarters conducted searches at the Special Warfare Command and Kwak's residence on December 9, where they also questioned him as a witness. On December 13, he was interrogated as a suspect, and Kim Jeong-geun, the commander of the 3rd Airborne Special Forces Brigade, was also questioned as a witness. The following day, An Mu-seong, the commander of the 9th Airborne Special Forces Brigade, was called in for questioning as well. Additionally, it has been reported that the prosecution plans to request an arrest warrant for former Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jin-woo, whose 48-hour detention period is set to expire today.