Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung Testifies He Received No Order to Dispatch Prosecutors During Martial Law

Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung testified during the trial of former Justice Minister Park Sung-je on rebellion charges, stating, "I have never received instructions from the Justice Minister to dispatch prosecutors to the joint martial law investigation headquarters."

Former Prosecutor General Shim appeared as a witness in the second-instance trial for former Minister Park, held today (the 15th) by Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Yoon Sung-sik), and made the remarks.

When lawyers for former Minister Park asked, "The first-instance ruling states that right after the emergency martial law declaration, Park Sung-je made a phone call to Shim Woo-jung requesting the dispatch of personnel such as prosecutors to the joint martial law headquarters and ordered cooperation. Did you receive such a call?" former Prosecutor General Shim replied, "Not at all."

Former Prosecutor General Shim explained that he had a total of three phone calls with former Minister Park between 11:01 PM on December 3, 2024, and 12:25 AM the following day.

He testified that at the time, he asked former Minister Park why the emergency martial law was declared, and Park only told him to "take good care of the prosecution," without ever ordering the dispatch of prosecutors.

To the question of whether he had ever passed down an order to dispatch prosecutors received from former Minister Park to the head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Public Security Department, former Prosecutor General Shim also answered, "No."

This testimony conflicts with the first-instance court's judgment that former Minister Park had ordered former Prosecutor General Shim to cooperate in dispatching personnel to the martial law headquarters on the day the emergency martial law was declared, and that Shim had transmitted this to the relevant department to be carried out.

The first instance based its judgment on the sequence of phone calls made on that day: from former Minister Park to former Prosecutor General Shim, then to the head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Public Security Department, the head of the Public Security Investigation Support Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Public Security Department, and finally to the head of the Public Affairs Criminal Division at the Ministry of Justice.

In response, former Prosecutor General Shim acknowledged that he did speak with the head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Public Security Department at the time, but explained, "I do not remember the specific contents of the conversation, but I suppose it was probably along the lines of 'Have you heard anything?' or 'Has the situation been figured out?'"

He expressed frustration, saying, "I don't know why the rebellion special counsel put me in the indictment of former Minister Park Sung-je," and added, "The first instance ruled that it was reasonably recognized that I ordered the dispatch of prosecutors, and the general special counsel based on this requested an arrest warrant for me and even indicted me."

He added, "It has been a process during which I've had many thoughts about whether our criminal justice system is truly the system I trusted and sought to uphold."

Former Prosecutor General Shim was indicted without detention on August 20 by the second comprehensive special counsel team led by Kwon Chang-young on charges including engaging in important missions of rebellion for allegedly reviewing the dispatch of prosecutors to the martial law headquarters under former Minister Park's orders.

He also faces charges of being involved in discussing countermeasures for crimes falling under the jurisdiction of military courts right after the emergency martial law declaration and drafting a document on "trial jurisdiction under emergency martial law, as well as abusing his authority by waiving an immediate appeal after the arrest of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was revoked."

Former Prosecutor General Shim had also attended former Minister Park's first-instance trial as a witness, but refused to testify at the time on the grounds that he was under investigation by the special counsel team for rebellion.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.