[Exclusive] Military agency drilled for martial law during March 2024 Freedom Shield exercises

A statue that sits exterior the doorway to the Protection Counterintelligence Command in Gwacheon. (courtesy DCC)

Within the months main as much as Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial regulation in December 2024, the chief of Korea’s Protection Counterintelligence Command (DCC) allegedly ordered the company to assign every unit its duties in a possible martial regulation state of affairs and personally oversaw investigation, arrest and escort drills for such a state of affairs throughout joint army workout routines with the US in March 2024.

Investigators with a particular counsel probe led by Kwon Chang-young into allegations linked with Yoon’s botched coup are reportedly looking for to verify this account and specify the timeframe of the DCC’s martial regulation preparations.

The Hankyoreh discovered on Monday that whereas serving as DCC commander, Yeo In-hyeong remarked to senior officers on the company in early 2024 that it was unclear who would take motion below martial regulation, given the dearth of concrete operation plans, and ordered the event of operation plans and the creation of a “process group,” given the “lack of Lego blocks.”

A “Lego block,” in Korean army parlance, refers to a primary army unit, comparable to an organization or squad.

In impact, Yeo was saying that the DCC wanted a particular operation plan for martial regulation as a result of its particular person platoons and squads had not been given particular missions or roles as different elements of the army had.

Till that time, the DCC’s solely plan for such a state of affairs was a obscure directive about mobilizing groups of investigators.

Subsequently, the DCC reportedly briefed Yeo on a report it had composed titled “Formation of Joint Investigation Headquarters, Motion Drills and Activity Group (Draft).”

“Activity group” is a army time period which means assigning missions to numerous items and establishing chains of command to make sure these missions are executed successfully.

The duty group deliberate on this report served as the premise for missions that have been truly drilled in the course of the ROK-US Freedom Protect joint army workout routines in March 2024.

The plan reportedly known as for the constituent items of the joint martial regulation investigation headquarters to go about their separate duties till a message was despatched in regards to the declaration of martial regulation, at which level they might arrange the headquarters. The DCC brokers who constituted the headquarters in the course of the workout routines have been answerable for investigation, arrest and escort duties, respectively.

When martial regulation was truly declared on Dec. 3, 2024, the DCC was tasked with arresting and detaining main politicians. That has kindled suspicions that the DCC’s drills in early 2024 had been impressed by actual plans to declare martial regulation. 

Sources say that Yeo confirmed up on the army coaching floor in the course of the workout routines and personally inspected the items. Yeo reportedly mentioned in the course of the workout routines that if martial regulation have been declared, the items within the joint investigation headquarters would want to have labored out their respective obligations prematurely. The commander then reviewed the roles that the members of the items would tackle and inspected the gear that they might carry within the occasion of martial regulation being declared. 

Till Yeo was appointed to guide the DCC, there had reportedly been no concrete process group plans for the company within the occasion of martial regulation being declared. Accordingly, workout routines have been primarily targeted on helping with safety checks somewhat than every unit member drilling an assigned mission. 

In impact, the DCC’s major function throughout workout routines had historically been to determine instances of negligent dealing with of army secrets and techniques or categorized info. For that cause, it was reportedly seen as unprecedented by many officers inside the company itself when the DCC carried out process group drills in preparation for a possible martial regulation state of affairs in March 2024. 

Kwon’s workforce of investigators reportedly suspects that the DCC started drafting plans and finishing up drills in preparation for martial regulation upon Yeo’s appointment as commander in November 2023. 

Kim Ji-mi, an assistant particular counsel engaged on the probe, mentioned Monday that investigators had “discovered proof that the Protection Counterintelligence Command started getting ready for martial regulation within the first half of 2024.”

By Jung Hwan-bong, employees reporter; Kim Ji-eun, employees reporter

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