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President Lee Jae-myung and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok discuss the scope of disclosure for a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, on November 11. / Source: Yonhap News

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok announced on Monday that the government will establish a task force to prepare disciplinary measures against public officials found to have cooperated with the December 3 martial law declaration or related acts of insurrection.

Speaking at the 49th Cabinet meeting held at the presidential office in Yongsan, Kim said the administration will create a “Government Reform Task Force for Constitutional Integrity” to ensure swift internal investigations and secure the legal grounds for personnel actions.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the task force will operate until February next year, reviewing all 49 central administrative agencies except those directly under the president or constitutionally independent bodies. Each ministry and agency must establish its own internal investigation team by November 21 and finalize the list of targets for review by December 12. The investigations will continue until January 31, followed by measures before the Lunar New Year.

Kim emphasized that strengthening popular sovereignty and democracy remains one of the government’s top priorities, noting that progress on addressing the attempted insurrection has been slow.

“For instance, cases such as police restricting access to the National Assembly and internal memos defending the legitimacy of martial law constitute acts of complicity within government ranks,” Kim said. “These incidents have been repeatedly raised in parliamentary audits and the media.”

He added that some officials involved in the incident have appeared on promotion lists, sparking discontent within the civil service. “This has created division inside the bureaucracy and weakened the government’s administrative momentum,” he said.

The prime minister stressed that the move is not aimed at individual punishment but at reaffirming the government’s commitment to constitutional order and restoring public trust. “We will conduct a fair and orderly investigation by January, implement follow-up measures before the holiday, and focus on stabilizing the public sector and resuming normal governance,” Kim said.

When Kim asked President Lee Jae-myung during the meeting whether the Prime Minister’s Office should issue detailed guidelines once the Cabinet agrees, the president responded, “That is, of course, something we must do.”