South Korea’s ex-intelligence commander’s note reveals alleged plans to provoke North Korea: Police
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Visitors use binoculars to look at the North Korean side of the Demilitarised Zone dividing the two Koreas, from South Korea's Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju on Oct 9.
PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL – A notebook belonging to a former military intelligence commander who was arrested in the recent martial law investigation
The Korean National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation (NOI) told reporters the notes, reading “provoke North Korea into an attack at the Northern Limit Line” and “block the National Assembly”, along with memos listing a number of lawmakers, journalists, prosecutors and government officials as individuals to be “collected”, were found at the residence of former defence intelligence commander Noh Sang-won on Dec 20.
The memo also detailed how the individuals on the list would be accommodated and handled.
The NOI is part of a joint investigation team with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and the Criminal Investigation Command of the Defence Ministry probing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law case.
Police did not specify the names of the individuals mentioned and were not able to confirm when the memos were written.
But the notes partly aligned with statements made by several opposition party lawmakers claiming that Mr Yoon and then Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun tried to provoke North Korea by striking trash balloons
Whether such attempts were carried out to provoke North Korea is yet to be confirmed, according to the police.
Mr Noh, who was dishonourably discharged in 2018 over a sexual harassment case and opened a fortune-telling business at his home in Ansan, Gyeonggi province, is a confidant of Mr Kim.
He is accused of organising a meeting with top military officials, including former Defence Intelligence Command head Moon Sang-ho, at an Ansan-based burger franchise to dole out orders in preparation for the imposition of martial law.
His personal notebook was seized when police raided his residence on Friday after he was taken into police custody under an emergency arrest on Dec 15.
Police told reporters that the 60- to 70-page notebook contained martial law-related content, but anything connected to the specific martial law decree was not found.
Meanwhile, police have seized the President’s phone records in a separate investigation after requesting court-issued warrants to access his private communications on Dec 22.
Though details of the conversations have not been revealed, the smartphone was reportedly identified as Mr Yoon’s personal phone instead of a secure telephone.
The joint body continues to analyse Mr Yoon’s call history to find any critical “smoking gun” evidence in his botched declaration of martial law. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
