▲ Kim Jong-uk, former commissioner general of the Coast Guard, is seated in this undated file photo provided by the Coast Guard. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ Ahn Sung-sik (R), former director general of planning and coordination at the Coast Guard, arrives at special counsel Kwon Chang-young's office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, in this file photo taken June 1, 2026, for a questioning over his alleged complicity in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid in 2024. (Yonhap)

special counsel-ex-Coast Guard chief

Special counsel seeks arrest warrant for ex-Coast Guard chief over alleged martial law role

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team said Wednesday it has requested an arrest warrant for Kim Jong-uk, former commissioner general of the Coast Guard, over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid in 2024.

The team, led by special counsel Kwon Chang-young, suspects that Kim convened a virtual conference of the Coast Guard leadership shortly after Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, to discuss dispatching investigators to a joint martial law investigation headquarters.

Kwon's team has also filed for an arrest warrant for Ahn Sung-sik, former director general for planning and coordination of the Coast Guard, suspecting that he ordered officials to clear and reorganize detention facilities in anticipation of a large number of incoming detainees under the martial law order.

Both warrant requests listed charges of assisting an insurrection and abuse of power.

Previously, a special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk decided not to press charges against Ahn due to insufficient evidence. Kwon's team, however, reopened the probe after uncovering suspicions of complicity.

The investigation formally expanded to include Kim on June 10.

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