On Sunday, former South Korean Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung showed up for questioning in Seoul as part of a special counsel probe into ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed attempt to declare martial law. The investigation digs deep into the chaotic events from last December, focusing on potential election interference and abuse of power.
Shim arrived at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office around 9:54 a.m. to face questions from special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team. He stayed silent when reporters pressed him about his possible role in pushing forward the martial law declaration, according to Yonhap news agency.
At the heart of the probe: allegations that Shim got orders from then-Justice Minister Park Sung-jae right after Yoon’s December 3 announcement. Those orders reportedly aimed to send prosecutors to a joint investigation headquarters. Investigators also suspect Shim chatted with Park over the phone three times during the tense overnight hours of December 3-4.
The team is zeroing in on another angle too—why a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office headed to the National Election Commission (NEC) on that same day. Yoon himself admitted earlier this year that he directed troops to NEC offices, claiming he worried about election fraud during his short-lived martial law push.
Adding to the scrutiny, Cho’s investigators want answers on why Shim didn’t fight a court’s March ruling that freed Yoon from detention. Yoon had faced charges of insurrection and was held briefly, but Shim’s hands-off approach let him attend his trial without cuffs—until a July arrest warrant from the Seoul Central District Court, requested by the special counsel, put him back behind bars.
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