Constitutional Court of Korea in Jongno-gu, Seoul - Yonhap via The Korea Herald/ANN
SEOUL: National Intelligence Service Chief Cho Tae-yong directly refuted the testimony of his subordinate, First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, about a note allegedly containing a list of 14 prominent politicians and outspoken critics of President Yoon Suk Yeol, whom Yoon had ordered arrested the night of his Dec. 3 martial law declaration.
Cho, who appeared as the first witness on Thursday’s (Feb 13) hearing, which was originally scheduled as the final hearing unless additional hearings are scheduled, testified that Hong had been at a different location that night, casting doubt on the first deputy director's testimony, in which he said Yoon had ordered him to arrest the 14 politicians and critics.
Hong, who was at that time the No. 2 at the NIS, testified at the trial's fifth hearing Feb. 5 to have written down a list of politicians he was ordered by Yoon to arrest, in front of Cho’s official residence. Hong testified that he had written down the list during a phone call with Yeo In-hyung, who was then commander of the Defence Counterintelligence Command. Hong had gone there to report about martial law declaration to Cho, but he wasn’t there.
“Hong was inside his office at 11:06 p.m. on Dec. 3, the time he claimed to be in front of my official residence,” Cho said during Thursday's hearing.
“I’ve checked this on surveillance camera footage,” he added.
Hong previously testified that before he spoke to Yeo the night of Dec. 3, Yoon had called him directly at 10:53 p.m., immediately after his declaration of martial law. He testified that Yoon instructed him to “take this opportunity to round them all up. Get rid of them all."
Yoon admitted to having called Hong directly but denied ordering the arrest of politicians, in Thursday's hearing.
“I remember I called Hong that night. But it was just to check whether Cho was in the country or was traveling to the US for a business trip. I feel sorry for calling him that night because it has caused all this debate,” Yoon told the justices.
Cho also said he had double-checked with one of the first deputy director's three aides whether the latter had transcribed Hong’s note that night, which Hong testified to have had done because he had stopped writing, thinking "something was strange" about the order.
Hong, during the fifth hearing held on Feb. 5, said the note he had “hurriedly jotted down was later transcribed by” his aide.
“When I checked, the aide said he did transcribe the note that night. But then Hong asked his aide to rewrite the memo the next day, saying that he couldn't fully recall (the list of people),” Cho said.
Hong had testified at the Feb. 5 hearing that there were two versions of the note: the original note that he jotted down during Yoon's call, and the one his aide transcribed.
But Thursday, Cho testified that there were actually four versions of the note, including a third note that Hong asked his aide Dec. 4 to write down again based on the aide's memory, and a fourth note, of which he didn't specify the author, which had more names than the third note.
When Yoon’s legal representative asked Cho whether Hong had given false testimony, Cho said “I think it was false testimony,” adding that he strongly questions the credibility of Hong’s remarks.
Hong was not called in for testimony Thursday. Yoon's lawyer requested that the court call him in again and the chief justice said they would discuss it, at Thursday's hearing.
Cho, during the hearing, also admitted to having exchanged text messages with first lady Kim Keon Hee the night of Dec. 3.
“I did text with her, but it’s an unusual case,” Cho answered when the National Assembly’s legal representative, which is serving as the prosecutor in Yoon’s impeachment trial, asked him why Kim had contacted him that night.
Thursday’s hearing also called in the ex-commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Kim Bong-sik and the Capital Defense Command’s First Security Group head Cho Sung-hyun.
First Security Group head Cho, the only witness who was directly requested by the court justices, had previously told prosecutors that Lee Jin-woo, then-commander of the Army's Capital Defence Command, had ordered him to "drag out" the lawmakers from the National Assembly building on the night of Dec. 3.
Lee, who had appeared on Feb. 5 as a witness, had refused to comment citing concerns regarding his ongoing criminal trial.
Following Thursday's hearing, the court is expected to review the case for about two weeks and release its verdict on Yoon's impeachment as early as the first week of March. - The Korea Herald/ANN
