▲ People Power Party lawmakers protest against a raid of its floor leader's office by special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 3, 2025. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) special counsel-PPP office

(LEAD) Special counsel accuses ex-President Yoon of discussing martial law since March 2024

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details from briefing; CHANGES headline, lead para, photo)

By Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team on Wednesday accused former President Yoon Suk Yeol of holding discussions about martial law since March last year, raising the possibility of former People Power Party (PPP) floor leader Choo Kyung-ho being aware of the plan before its declaration.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team made the accusation as it seeks to carry out a warrant to search the office of the PPP's floor leader over allegations that Choo obstructed lawmakers from taking part in a parliamentary vote to lift Yoon's martial law declaration in December.

PPP lawmakers are currently staging a protest outside the office at the National Assembly to block the team's attempt, taking issue with the period for evidence subject to seizure from May last year, when Choo was elected as floor leader, to this Tuesday.

"Discussions on martial law began from about March last year," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said in a briefing. "(We) cannot rule out the possibility that the floor leader may have been aware of it since then."

Park called on the PPP to cooperate with the search, noting the team had received a court-issued warrant.

The team tried to search the PPP floor leader's office Tuesday but withdrew after opposition from the party.

Choo is accused of changing the venue of an emergency meeting of PPP lawmakers multiple times shortly after Yoon's declaration on Dec. 3 at the former president's request. As a result, the National Assembly passed a motion to repeal Yoon's decree early the next morning, with only 18 of the PPP's 108 lawmakers present.

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