Insurrection Special Prosecutor appeals acquittal of 8 soldiers in ‘martial law dispatch’ and ‘hamburger meeting’

On the 5th, the team of special prosecutor Cho Eun-seok appealed against the first trial acquittal of eight former soldiers, including former Army 2nd Armored Brigade commander (Brigadier General) Koo Sam-hoe, who was indicted on charges of engaging in important civil war missions.

On the 5th, the special prosecutor's team announced that it had submitted an appeal to the Criminal Agreement Division 38-2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Jeong Soo-young, Choi Young-gak, and Jang Seong-jin), which heard the case, on the previous day, citing misunderstanding of facts and misunderstanding of the law.

The special prosecutor's team explained, "We took into account the fact that the defendants who were found not guilty this time were key commanders who participated in the plot before the declaration of martial law, stayed on duty and waited while maintaining security, and dispatched and commanded troops to sites such as the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, which would never be permitted even under normal martial law."

He then said, "We held a working meeting with the Ministry of National Defense prosecutors and discussed in depth the problems of the original trial, which found all not guilty, and the future direction of maintaining the prosecution in the appellate trial." He also said that he plans to maintain the prosecution in the future as well in the appeal trial.

The case was investigated and indicted by the Ministry of National Defense's prosecution team in February, and was handed over to the special prosecutor's team in April, where the prosecution was maintained together.

Previously, the court acquitted former Director Koo Sam-hoe and former Defense Innovation Planning Director (Brigadier General) Bang Jeong-hwan, who attended the so-called 'hamburger meeting' just before martial law was declared on the 30th of last month, saying that the purpose of disturbing the Constitution, which is a requirement for treason, was not proven.

All former soldiers who were put on trial on charges of deploying troops to the National Assembly, the National Election Commission, and a private public opinion polling agency on the day martial law was declared were all found not guilty.

The court ruled that the purpose of disrupting the National Constitution was not recognized by former Counterintelligence Division 1st Director Seong-woo Jeong, former Special Forces 3rd Airborne Brigade Director Kim Jeong-geun, former 9th Airborne Brigade Director Cho An-seong, former Deputy Director of the National Defense Investigation Headquarters Kim Sang-yong, former Capital Defense Command Military Police Chief Kim Chang-hak, and former Special Operations Aviation Group Chief Kim Se-woon.