Police Commissioner: “Counterintelligence Commander requested location tracking for key politicians”

[Anchor]

Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho also appeared before the National Assembly and stated that he received a call from the Counterintelligence Commander during the emergency martial law.

He mentioned that he was asked to track the locations of key politicians, including Representative Lee Jae-myung and Representative Han Dong-hoon.

This aligns with the claims made by former National Intelligence Service Deputy Director Hong Jang-won.

Reporter Kye Hyun-woo has the details.

[Report]

Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho, who is under investigation for charges of insurrection, responded to a question about when he recognized the illegality of the martial law situation by saying it was after receiving a call from the Counterintelligence Commander.

[Cho Ji-ho/Police Commissioner: "(On December 3rd) between 10:30 and 10:40 PM, I received a call from the Counterintelligence Commander who mentioned three things, and I thought there was a problem, and there were things I did not instruct my staff about."]

The call was regarding requests to track the locations of major politicians for their arrest.

[Cho Ji-ho/Police Commissioner: "There was Representative Lee Jae-myung, (Park Chan-dae) the opposition floor leader, and I recall (Jung Chung-rae) the chairman, and I thought about why they were included, such as former Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo and former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il."]

He explained that initially there was no mention of Representative Han Dong-hoon, but he received another call stating that one more person was added.

This matches the list of targets for arrest mentioned by former National Intelligence Service Deputy Director Hong Jang-won in the National Assembly.

Commissioner Cho stated that he noted a total of 15 names but did not comply with the request.

[Cho Ji-ho/Police Commissioner: "It is difficult for me to mention all the 15 names as if I were looking at the list right now, but the tracking itself is illegal, and to track locations, a warrant issued by the court is required...."]

Commissioner Cho's repeated instructions to the police to control access to the National Assembly during the martial law period have also come under scrutiny.

[Jung Chung-rae/Chairman of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee: "If you recognized it as illegal, why did you instruct to fully control the National Assembly at the same time?"]

[Cho Ji-ho/Police Commissioner: "It was to strengthen security around the National Assembly due to concerns about unexpected situations."]

Commissioner Cho revealed that he instructed the police special investigation team not to report on the investigation related to the incumbent police commissioner, amid allegations that it was a so-called 'self-investigation.'

KBS News, Kye Hyun-woo.