The 2nd Comprehensive Special Counsel team announced that it has requested arrest warrants for former Korea Coast Guard (KCG) Commissioner General Kim Jong-wook and former KCG Planning and Coordination Officer Ahn Sung-sik on charges of abetting insurrection and abuse of power, in connection with allegations of the Coast Guard's involvement in martial law operations.

Ahn is suspected of changing internal regulations starting in 2023 to ensure the Coast Guard would be automatically integrated into the Martial Law Joint Investigation Headquarters through coordination with the Defense Counterintelligence Command.

Investigations revealed that during a video conference of commanders held nationwide after the declaration of emergency martial law, Ahn allegedly advocated for reviewing the arming of officers to protect local police substations and increasing the number of personnel dispatched to the Joint Investigation Headquarters.

Testimony also emerged that after the meeting, Ahn instructed officials to empty and prepare detention facilities, stating that a large number of martial law offenders were expected to be brought in.

In the early hours of the day following the martial law declaration, at approximately 1:50 a.m., the Coast Guard dispatched one police inspector to the Martial Law Command's security division as a government liaison officer, following a request from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This occurred 50 minutes after the National Assembly had passed a resolution to lift the emergency martial law.

Upon being notified that the situation had been resolved, the Coast Guard recalled the liaison officer, who was found to have returned before reaching the Martial Law Command.

The Special Counsel team determined that these actions constituted participation in or alignment with the insurrection, leading them to apply the charge of abetting insurrection to Ahn and request his arrest.

The team also concluded that Kim, the former head of the Coast Guard, had tacitly approved Ahn's actions, and has moved to secure his detention as well.

Ahn is a graduate of Choongam High School, the same school as former President Yoon Suk Yeol, and in March 2022, while serving as the head of the criminal investigation division at the headquarters, he became the first person from the Coast Guard to be dispatched to the presidential transition committee.

He was promoted twice in two years, moving from senior superintendent to superintendent general in 2023, and to chief superintendent general last year.

Previously, the special counsel team investigating the insurrection had conducted searches and summons regarding the allegations against Ahn but decided not to indict him, citing insufficient evidence.

However, the Comprehensive Special Counsel team stated, "We reopened the case that the previous special counsel team had decided not to indict and confirmed the charges through supplementary investigations," conducting another search and seizure in April.

The investigation was expanded last month when Kim was questioned as a suspect on June 10.

(Photo: Yonhap News)