It was confirmed on the 22nd that the independent counsel team (special prosecutor Cho Eun-seok) recently secured a statement that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun urged Lee Seung-oh, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to operate after the last "unmanned infiltration operation into Pyongyang" on November 19 last year. The independent counsel team visited former Minister Kim, who is in prison at the Seoul Eastern Detention Center, and is investigating the background of the drone operation despite opposition to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Once every 2-3 days, "Raise the unmanned aircraft."
The special prosecution team launched its first investigation into the foreign exchange allegations against former Minister Kim, who is being indicted and tried as an important civil war mission worker. The purpose is to confirm whether the drone operation conducted by the drone operation command from October to November last year was part of the "Pukpoongmori" to build the cause of the December 3 emergency martial law. The key is whether former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the commander-in-chief, ordered and carried out illegal operations through former Minister Kim.
The special prosecution team recently secured a statement that former Minister Kim urged Lee to fly drones every two to three days even after the last drone operation in October last year (March 9, 10) and November 19. This was the time when former Minister Kim was spotted passing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to the JCS official's statement, when North Korea sprayed the filth balloon early on Nov. 18 last year, Kim told Lee, "When the next balloon arrives, report it to the chief of operations that he needs to strike from the ground. I will instruct the ground operations command." He also reportedly instructed Lee not to report what I ordered to the JCS chairman.
It is understood that Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited former Minister Kim on November 22 and ordered Lee to report directly to him, skipping Chairman Kim. In particular, former Minister Kim also secured a statement that on November 29, four days before martial law, he instructed Lee to rewrite the guidelines in a way that simplifies the process so that the strike from the origin can be made immediately if ordered by him.
We plan to check whether former President Yoon's order was in the background of former Minister Kim's attempt to raise the level of drone operations just before martial law was declared. The independent counsel team suspects the possibility that the operation was carried out based on the trend of "Former President Yoon → former Minister Kim → former Director of Drone Operations → Kim Yong-dae." It is judged that they are in a conspiracy to commit general transfer and abuse of authority. In this regard, the independent counsel team is focusing on the unmanned aerial vehicle command system based on the phone calls between "Kim Yong-hyun-Lee Seung-oh," "Lee Seung-oh-Kim Yong-dae," and "Kim Yong-dae-Yeom counterintelligence commander," which were concentrated between October and November last year when the operation was conducted.
The key investigation target is whether Kim was involved in the drone operation in June last year, when he was the head of the security department. It is investigating after detecting circumstantial evidence that Kim made a series of calls with then Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, Chairman Kim, and Commander Kim on June 16 last year on a security mobile phone (non-telephone) to discuss the drone operation even though he had no military command at the time.
Kim is found to be exercising his right to refuse to make a statement during the investigation. Before the investigation, Kim's lawyers protested, asking him to immediately stop foreign exchange investigations that benefit the enemy and insult our military. "Kim is responsible for all military operations to curb the provocation of balloons containing dirt and garbage from the enemy," he said. "Immediately stop insulting investigations against military personnel who were faithful to their duty."
In this regard, Special Prosecutor Park Ji-young said in a briefing, "All other military personnel except former Minister Kim are faithfully working on the special prosecutor's investigation," adding, "Please think about what the minister looks like to take full responsibility."
Reporter Kim Bo-reum [email protected]
Is it even conceivable that the Minister of National Defense could send drones to the North unilaterally, without the President’s approval?
It’s impossible to believe that our country operates under such a flimsy and undisciplined chain of command.
These individuals were a faction that tried to drag the nation into war in order to rescue Yoon Kun-hee from political and legal crisis.
We must decisively root out these traitors—undoubtedly the worst in our history.