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Cho Tae-yong, former director of the National Intelligence Service, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District on November 11 for a pretrial detention hearing. He is accused of violating the National Intelligence Service Act, dereliction of duty, and perjury. / Source: Yonhap News

Former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Cho Tae-yong will remain in custody after a Seoul court dismissed his request for a detention review, filed in response to charges of dereliction of duty and violating the political neutrality clause of the NIS Act.

Judge Cho Young-min of the Seoul Central District Court rejected Cho’s habeas corpus request at around 2 a.m. on November 17, ruling that there were no grounds to overturn the initial detention order. A detention review allows a detainee to ask the court to reconsider whether continued detention is necessary.

“The petition lacks merit based on the hearing and case records,” the judge said, indicating that the special prosecutor’s detention warrant had been lawfully issued and that concerns about evidence destruction justified keeping Cho in custody.

The special investigation team on the December 3 martial law plot requested Cho’s arrest warrant on November 7. The court issued the warrant on November 12, citing “substantial grounds to suspect criminal conduct” and “a risk of evidence being destroyed.”

Cho is accused of failing to notify the National Assembly for more than an hour after former president Yoon Suk-yeol informed him of a plan to declare emergency martial law on December 3 last year—an alleged dereliction of duty. He also faces accusations of violating the NIS Act’s ban on political involvement by providing ruling-party lawmakers with CCTV footage showing the movements of Hong Jang-won, then the NIS first deputy director, during the planned martial law period.