Insurrection allegation against conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice dismissed by special counsel

The second comprehensive special counsel team, led by Special Counsel Kwon Chang-young, has dismissed a complaint against Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae accusing him of participating in an insurrection during the December 3 declaration of martial law.
In a notice to the press on September 1, the special counsel said that on August 20 it had dismissed the case accusing Chief Justice Cho of performing an important role in an insurrection.
Cho had been reported to investigators on allegations that, as head of the judiciary at the time martial law was declared on December 3, he participated in the insurrection by failing to publicly point out the unconstitutional and unlawful nature of martial law or take steps to stop it.
The complainant reportedly argued that although Cho convened an emergency meeting of senior judicial officials immediately after martial law was declared, the Supreme Court subsequently failed to issue an official statement rejecting it.
The comprehensive special counsel questioned the complainant but said it had uncovered no new facts, and therefore dismissed the case.
Earlier, the insurrection special counsel team, led by Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk, had also decided not to prosecute Chief Justice Cho over the allegations of insurrection.
According to the written non-prosecution decision prepared by Cho Eun-suk’s special counsel team, Chief Justice Cho arrived at the Office of Court Administration at around 12:40 a.m. on December 4, 2024, and told assembled senior officials, in substance, that the declaration of martial law was unconstitutional.
Investigators also found that when Cho was informed that the martial law command had requested the dispatch of a liaison officer, he instructed officials, “Do not send one.”
No liaison officer was in fact dispatched to the martial law command, and the special counsel team found no evidence that the courts reviewed or discussed any related follow-up measures.
Taking these circumstances into consideration, the special counsel team closed the complaint accusing Chief Justice Cho of participating in the insurrection on December 15 of last year, finding no grounds for the allegations.