Counsel for Former Commander Kang Ho-pil: "Case Must Be Dismissed If Consultation with Special Prosecutor Cannot Be Proven"
The defense counsel for former Army Ground Operations Commander Kang Ho-pil demanded the dismissal of the indictment at the first pretrial hearing on charges of committing key duties in an insurrection, held at the Seoul Central District Court on the 8th. Dismissal of an indictment is a mechanism that ends a case without examining its merits when the prosecution procedure violated the law. The defense argued that the indictment procedure of the second Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young's team was flawed, and that the legality of the prosecution is the central issue in this case.
The defense stated that the Comprehensive Special Prosecutor's team must prove that it consulted with the Cho Eun-seok insurrection special prosecution team, which had been active earlier, in the process of indicting former commander Kang. The argument is that since the insurrection special prosecution team excluded him from its list of prosecution targets and the Comprehensive Special Prosecutor's team reversed that decision to indict him, it must be examined whether the consultation provision under the Special Prosecutor Act was observed.
The defense also pointed out that during the martial law period, not only the Ground Operations Command but also the Second Operations Command organized subordinate regional martial law commands, yet the Comprehensive Special Prosecutor's team did not indict anyone in connection with the Second Operations Command. The defense argued that if the special prosecution team cannot provide a reasonable explanation, the indictment should be dismissed.
The second Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young's team countered, taking the position that the claim that the prosecution's validity is flawed is excessive. It stated that even if there is room to interpret that the Comprehensive Special Prosecutor's team made a different decision from the insurrection special prosecution team regarding the indictment of former commander Kang, this cannot be seen as a "reversal of a decision" as defined in the Special Prosecutor Act.
The court decided to hold one more pretrial hearing on November 2. Former commander Kang was indicted without detention in August on charges of ordering the establishment of an internal situation room within the Ground Operations Command, as well as the convening of a crisis response team and all command officers, following the declaration of emergency martial law on December 3, 2024.
