The government has revoked 198 government awards that were previously granted to individuals involved in the December 12 military insurrection, the suppression of the May 18 Democratization Movement, martial law operations, and fabricated espionage cases.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it deliberated and approved the revocation of 198 government awards granted to 167 individuals during a cabinet meeting held today (July 21).

Specifically, this includes 76 military service medals and merit medals awarded to individuals involved in the December 12 military insurrection, the May 18 movement, and martial law operations between 1980 and 1981, as well as 122 medals, merit medals, presidential citations, and prime ministerial citations awarded to 91 individuals involved in fabricated spy cases from the 1960s to the 1990s.

To rectify awards granted to those involved in anti-constitutional acts and state violence such as fabricated spy cases, the government reviewed the appropriateness of the awards in cooperation with the Ministry of National Defense, the National Police Agency, and the National Intelligence Service (NIS), followed by administrative procedures including prior notification to the recipients and the convening of a public service review committee.

The revoked awards consist of 76 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense, 36 under the National Police Agency, and 86 under the NIS.

Among the revoked awards is a total of four citations granted to Park Cheo-won, the former head of the anti-communist investigation bureau at the National Police Headquarters and former chief of the Namyeong-dong anti-communist interrogation facility, including one Nokjo Order of Service Merit, one Hongjo Order of Service Merit, and two presidential citations.

Additionally, one prime ministerial citation awarded to Lee Geun-an, a notorious torturer who passed away in March of this year, has also been revoked.

Following the revocation of Chungmu Military Service Medals awarded to 10 individuals who played key roles in the December 12 military insurrection this past March, the Ministry of National Defense identified and initiated revocation procedures for an additional 76 individuals who had improperly received military service medals and merit medals between 1980 and 1981.

Among them, 42 individuals who were decorated for meritorious service in national security were found, upon investigation of their service records and anti-espionage operation logs at the time, to have lacked the necessary merits—such as performing duties equivalent to combat for military service medals, or dedication to national defense for merit medals.

The Ministry of National Defense also determined that the 34 individuals decorated for meritorious service in martial law operations had provided false information, which is grounds for revocation under the Awards and Decorations Act.

The ministry stated that as the emergency martial law has been legally determined to be an act of insurrection and a disruption of the constitutional order, the duties performed by the Martial Law Command and its subordinate units were acts that assisted the new military junta in their illegal seizure of power and insurrection, and therefore cannot be recognized as meritorious service.

Since March, the National Police Agency has conducted a full investigation into approximately 100,000 government awards granted since the agency's inception, identifying those related to cases where illegal arrests, torture, and the suppression of democratization movements were confirmed.

The 36 awards under the jurisdiction of the National Police Agency include 15 medals, 3 merit medals, 12 presidential citations, and 6 prime ministerial citations.

Of these, 29 awards were related to the South Korean National Liberation Front (Namminjeon) incident, in which approximately 80 people were arrested in 1979 on charges including violations of the National Security Act.

In retrials held in 2024 and 2025, the defendants in the Namminjeon incident were acquitted as illegal detention and torture were recognized by the court.

The revocations also include 2 awards related to the Samcheok fixed-spy ring case, 3 related to the Seoul National University Murim incident, and 1 each related to the Ham Ju-myung spy case and the Korea Christian Institute for Social Issues case.

The National Police Agency has also requested relevant agencies to revoke 51 ministerial citations related to these cases.

The National Police Agency is currently in the process of further revoking government awards granted in connection with anti-constitutional acts, such as the suppression of the May 18 Democratization Movement and the Samcheong Re-education Program.

The NIS conducted an internal full investigation into government awards granted to its employees since the establishment of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency at the end of March this year.

Based on a review of retrial rulings, reports from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the NIS Truth Commission, and the merit records of the recipients, the NIS confirmed violations of investigation procedures and human rights abuses in a total of 19 cases, including 17 cases where acquittals were finalized through retrials and 2 cases identified by the truth commissions.

The NIS requested that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety revoke 86 government awards granted to 71 individuals in connection with cases such as the Korean-Japanese spy case, the Boseong family spy ring case, and the Jeju mother-daughter spy case.

This marks the third time this year that government awards have been revoked, following 11 cases in January, including the Order of National Security Merit, and 10 military service medals in March.

The National Police Agency and the NIS have apologized to the victims and their bereaved families who suffered from the illegal exercise of public power and human rights abuses in the past.

The government plans to continue identifying and revoking government awards that were improperly granted in connection with anti-constitutional acts and fabricated spy cases.

(Photo: Yonhap News)