S.Korean prosecutors want ex-military commander tried for ‘martial law plan’

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – South Korean prosecutors have sought to arrest a former military commander for allegedly planning martial law in 2017.

Cho Hyun-chun, 64, used to be the head of the now-defunct Defense Security Command and is suspected of “masterminding of a martial law plan while the then President Park Geun-hye faced an impeachment trial in 2017,” Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

He was detained this Wednesday upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, as part of an investigation into the major political development in late 2017.

Prosecutors are "reviewing whether drawing up such a document constitutes conspiracy of a rebellion," according to the Seoul Western District Court, which is expected to pronounce a verdict late Friday.

Prosecutors have charged Cho with "abuse of authority and political meddling."

At the peak of numerous street candlelight vigils that led to Park's impeachment, Cho is said to have formulated a contingency plan in 2017 “based on an illegal declaration of martial law to crack down on candlelight protesters by force and reported it to then Defense Minister Han Min-koo.”

He is also being questioned about whether he directed "defense security agents (to) stage rallies and run columns and advertisements supporting Park."

Under the plan, Cho had commissioned “mobilizing 200 Army tanks, 550 armored vehicles and more than 6,000 armed forces to form a martial law army.”