Seoul: Defense, foreign ministries set up task forces to probe military, gov't officials' martial law involvement. The defense and foreign ministries on Friday set up their own task forces to investigate the involvement of military and ministry officials in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law attempt in December last year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the move came as the office of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok launched an interagency task force this week to investigate whether public officials at 49 central government agencies were involved in illegal activities or misconduct in connection with Yoon's martial law bid. The defense and foreign ministries are among 12 key agencies coming under intensive inspection.
The defense ministry stated that the task force, led by Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, will consist of about 50 personnel, including members of the inspection bureau and external experts. In a related effort, the ministry will open a hotline and an email channel to receive such tip-offs. Meanwhile, the ministry mentioned that the results of an independent investigation it had conducted on military units that were mobilized for the martial law operations since August will be out soon.
In a separate announcement, the foreign ministry declared it has established its own task force, headed by Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, which will operate from Monday through Jan. 30. The ministry stated it plans to "proceed with the probe in a transparent and diligent manner within the scope permitted under due procedures." It will also be open to receive complaints regarding the investigation until Dec. 12.