South Korean police seize phone of former defense minister

The phone was taken by investigators to the presidential office complex and is considered evidence related to President Yoon Suk-yeol's brief declaration of martial law last week.

Police said the raid targeted the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) headquarters, located next to the presidential complex, and the presidential office was not included in the search.

South Korean police are investigating officials involved in President Yoon Suk-yeol's martial law declaration on December 3. (Photo: Yonhap)

According to investigators, President Yoon and Minister Kim are believed to have used this phone to relay orders to commanders on the front lines for six hours, when martial law was in effect from the evening of December 3 to the early morning of December 4.

Also in the investigation related to this incident, police raided the headquarters of the Capital Defense Command and seized documents from servers connected to the phone.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) voluntarily turned over documents, including surveillance camera footage of the command and control center in the basement of the building, which was used as the martial law headquarters' situation room before and after Yoon announced the decree.

President Yoon is said to have met with military officials at the command and control center, shortly after the National Assembly voted to repeal his decree at around 1 a.m. on December 4.

The presidential office was not the target of the December 12 raid.

Police had earlier sought to search key offices, including the cabinet meeting room, the Presidential Security Service and a basement inside the JCS headquarters. The raid ended with police being provided with some restricted documents from the presidential security service.

Kong Anh (Source: Yonhap)

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