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Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the People Power Party enters a party caucus at the National Assembly in Seoul. / Source: Yonhap News

South Korea’s special counsel investigating the “insurrection” case conducted a search and seizure on Tuesday targeting former People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho over allegations he obstructed a National Assembly vote to lift emergency martial law.

According to legal sources, investigators searched Choo’s residence in Seoul’s Gangnam District on September 2 as part of a probe into why only 18 of 108 PPP lawmakers took part when the Assembly passed a resolution at dawn on December 4 to end the emergency decree.

Prosecutors are examining suspicions that, after a roughly one-minute call from former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Choo repeatedly changed the location of an urgent party caucus, preventing many PPP lawmakers from joining the vote.

The special counsel has already questioned National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, Secretary General Kim Min-ki, Democratic Party lawmakers Baek Hye-ryun, Kim Sang-wook, Kim Sung-hoe, and PPP lawmakers Cho Kyung-tae and Kim Ye-ji as reference witnesses. On August 21, investigators also searched the Assembly Secretariat; the warrant reportedly listed Choo as a suspect.

Authorities plan to analyze the seized materials and summon Choo for questioning soon.