Two South Korean military officials, including Army Chief Park An-su, who was named martial law commander during the short-lived declaration last month, have been indicted after being detained by prosecutors investigating insurrection charges.
According to Yonhap news agency, the officials have been indicted over their alleged roles in the brief imposition of emergency martial law in early December.
Park An-su and Lieutenant General Kwak Jong-keun were indicted under detention on charges of insurrection and abuse of power, according to the prosecution handling their cases.
On the night of December 3, Park issued the martial law decree in his name, an act which investigators believe contains unconstitutional elements.
Meanwhile, Kwak is accused of sending special operations forces to the National Assembly under orders from now-impeached President Yoon Suk-Yeol to secure the parliament building and prevent lawmakers from passing a motion to reject the martial law.
The actions of the two officials were deemed by prosecutors to have the intent to subvert the Constitution and amounted to charges of insurrection.
Notably, Park and Kwak were placed under arrest last month. Following this, South Korea’s parliament voted to revoke the martial law just hours after its imposition. The legislature later voted to impeach President Yoon over his martial law decree.
