South Korea’s ex-spy master grilled over role in 2024 failed martial law bid

South Korean prosecutors grilled a former spy chief Monday over his alleged involvement in the failed 2024 martial law bid by ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Cho Tae-yong, a former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), appeared before a special counsel team in Seoul for questioning.

Cho is accused of attempting to contact the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after Yoon’s martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024 to deliver a message justifying the emergency decree.

Investigators believe the NIS received a document from the presidential office a day after Yoon’s declaration along with a request to explain the background of his decree to friendly countries.

Last month, a Seoul district court sentenced Cho to 18 months in prison, finding him guilty of perjury for falsely testifying at the Constitutional Court that he did not receive martial law-related documents from Yoon.

Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment in February for leading an insurrection through his failed martial law bid, which lasted only a few hours before the National Assembly voted to lift it.

The former president faces a total of eight trials in connection with his martial law attempt, his wife’s alleged corruption and the 2023 death of a marine officer.