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Noh Sang-won, former chief of South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Command, in an undated file photo. / Source: Yonhap News

The special counsel investigating an alleged insurrection said it has booked Noh Sang-won, former head of the Defense Intelligence Command, as a suspect on charges of conspiracy in preparation for murder with the purpose of insurrection. It is the first time the team has questioned Noh as a suspect.

At a briefing on October 20, deputy special counsel Park Ji-young said, “Questioning of Mr. Noh was conducted on the 19th,” adding that “the session concerned allegations of conspiracy in preparation for murder with the purpose of insurrection that were referred to the special counsel in June after being reported to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.”

The team had so far questioned Noh as a witness and, according to reports, suggested his sentence could be reduced if he cooperated and gave a full account regarding the so-called “Noh Sang-won notebook.” The offer was based on a newly added clause in the amended special counsel law that mandates mitigation for voluntary confessors or those who substantially assist the investigation. Noh, however, is said to have been uncooperative.

A notebook seized earlier by police and attributed to Noh allegedly labeled key politicians and progressive figures as “targets for removal,” and set out specific handling methods such as “shot on the GOP line” and “north of the civilian control line.”

Deputy special counsel Park said, “We need legal review on how much of what is written in the notebook was acted upon and whether any of it can be linked to preparatory conspiracy,” explaining that “for preparatory conspiracy, there must be concrete plans or collusion amounting to preparatory acts for murder.”

The team appears to believe it can apply additional charges of conspiracy in preparation for murder, separate from the already-filed insurrection counts, citing a 1997 Supreme Court precedent that differentiated between insurrection and murder for the purpose of insurrection in the trials of the Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo junta figures. At the time, the court held that insurrection aims to subvert the constitutional order using a riot as the means, whereas murder for the purpose of insurrection uses killing as the means.

Meanwhile, former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong, who was questioned as a suspect on October 15 and 17 on charges including violations of the National Intelligence Service Act, may face another summons. Park said, “We did not get through all the questions prepared for the second session,” adding the team will “supplement matters related to that questioning and then consider whether to call him in again.”