Police and Defense Ministry involved in attempt to arrest key politicians

[Anchor]

The prosecution's indictment includes indications that the National Office of Investigation(NOI) of the National Police Agency and the Criminal Investigation Command(CIC) under the Ministry of National Defense cooperated in the attempt to arrest politicians by the Counterintelligence Command.

This part is reported by reporter Choi Hye-rim.

[Report]

The suspicion of the Counterintelligence Command's attempt to arrest politicians has spread to the NOI of the National Police Agency and the CIC of the Ministry of National Defense.

[Mo Gyeong-jong/Democratic Party Member/Dec. 23/National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee: "Isn't the police also involved in the arrest, going there to carry out activities and arrests?"]

The police stated that they perceived the Counterintelligence Command's request for support as a directive to lead them to the scene.

[Lee Hyun-il/Head of Investigation Planning Division, National Police Agency/ Dec. 23/National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee: "We understood it simply as guidance, and were not operating with the concept of an arrest in mind."]

The prosecution believes that theNOI and the CIC participated in the activities of the Counterintelligence Command's arrest team.

The prosecution sees that they acted at the request of the Counterintelligence Commander, Yeo In-hyung.

According to the indictment, immediately after the martial law was declared, Commander Yeo called National Police Chief Cho Ji-ho and CIC Director Park Heon-soo to request support for investigators.

Then, he informed the head of the Counterintelligence Investigation Team that 100 personnel each from the NOI and the CIC would be arriving.

The prosecution determined that the request from the Counterintelligence Command was reported to National Police Chief Cho Ji-ho and NOI Chief Woo Jong-soo, and subsequently, a list of 104 investigators from the Seoul Police Agency was compiled.

The prosecution also presented circumstantial evidence, discovering messages in the 'Counterintelligence Command Deployment Team Group Chat' stating "List of personnel supporting the NOI" and "Join with the police at the assembly point to carry out the mission."

The prosecution assessed that the CIC was more accurately aware of the operation of the arrest team.

It was confirmed that a CIC official instructed investigators to "follow the orders of the Counterintelligence Command," and directed them to "wear black clothing, do not attach the CIC patch, and prepare handcuffs and masks for deployment."

As the prosecution secures statements from related individuals as well as physical evidence, it seems difficult for the NOI and the CIC to avoid further investigation.

This is KBS News, Choi Hye-rim.