▲ Assistant special counsel Kim Ji-mi speaks during a press briefing at special counsel Kwon Chang-young's office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on July 20, 2026. (Yonhap)

GWACHEON, South Korea, July 20 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team said Monday it has uncovered signs of the National Intelligence Service's (NIS) involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law bid, such as ordering the dispatch of investigators to a martial law body.

Assistant special counsel Kim Ji-mi shared details about the NIS' alleged role during a press briefing on special counsel Kwon Chang-young's team's investigation into Yoon's failed bid to impose martial law in late 2024.

According to Kim, Hong Jang-won, then first deputy director of the NIS, instructed officials to establish communication channels with the Defense Counterintelligence Command after Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.

Other senior officials also allegedly ordered the creation of contact points with the National Police Agency and made instructions for NIS officials to be dispatched to the martial law command's joint investigation headquarters.

"(We) have identified circumstances indicating that the NIS made very specific instructions to implement martial law," Kim said. "(We) are currently verifying whether these instructions were actually carried out."

Special counsel Kwon's team was launched in February to investigate allegations surrounding Yoon, his failed martial law bid and his wife that were not fully covered in previous special counsel investigations.

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