Arrest Warrants Requested for Ex-Coast Guard Officials in Failed Martial Law Bid
Quick Look
A special counsel team in Seoul has requested arrest warrants for former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Jong-uk and former Director General Ahn Sung-sik, alleging their roles in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed 2024 martial law bid, including assisting an insurrection and abuse of power.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Special counsel teams are investigating a failed martial law bid by former President Yoon Suk Yeol in December 2024. This includes alleged actions by Coast Guard officials to support the martial law order.
SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team said Wednesday it has requested an arrest warrant for Kim Jong-uk, former commissioner general of the Coast Guard, over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid in 2024.
The team, led by special counsel Kwon Chang-young, suspects that Kim convened a virtual conference of the Coast Guard leadership shortly after Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, to discuss dispatching investigators to a joint martial law investigation headquarters.
Kwon's team has also filed for an arrest warrant for Ahn Sung-sik, former director general for planning and coordination of the Coast Guard, suspecting that he ordered officials to clear and reorganize detention facilities in anticipation of a large number of incoming detainees under the martial law order.
Both warrant requests listed charges of assisting an insurrection and abuse of power.
Previously, a special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk decided not to press charges against Ahn due to insufficient evidence. Kwon's team, however, reopened the probe after uncovering suspicions of complicity.
The investigation formally expanded to include Kim on June 10.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The court will review the arrest warrant requests for Kim Jong-uk and Ahn Sung-sik.
Very likely · Within days
Open Questions
- Will the arrest warrants be approved by the court?
- What further evidence did Kwon's team uncover?
- What is the full extent of the alleged complicity?
