Special Prosecutor Seeks 18 Years for Former 707th Commander: "Carried Out Duties Believing Coup Would Succeed"

"Action Squad Leader Who Carried Out Violence Under the Boss's Orders"

The special prosecutor team led by Cho Eunseok has requested an 18-year prison sentence for Hyun-tae Kim, former commander of the 707th Special Mission Group under the Army Special Warfare Command, who was indicted on charges including participating in the blockade of the National Assembly during the 12·3 Martial Law Incident.

Hyun-Tae Kim, former commander of the 707 Special Mission Group. Photo by Yonhap News

On July 28, during the final hearing for the case presided over by Judges Oh Changsub, Ryu Changseong, and Jang Seonghun of the 37-2 Criminal Division at the Seoul Central District Court, the special prosecutor's office formally requested this sentence for Kim, who is accused of engaging in key insurgency tasks.

For Lee Sanghyun, former commander of the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade, who was also involved in the blockade, the prosecution sought a 15-year prison sentence. The prosecution also requested 10 years in prison for Park Heonsu, former head of the Defense Ministry's Investigation Headquarters, and 12 years for Kim Daewoo, former head of the Counterintelligence Investigation Unit at the Defense Security Command, both of whom participated in running teams tasked with arresting politicians.

Additionally, the special prosecutor requested a 10-year prison term for Ko Donghee, former chief of planning at the Defense Intelligence Command, for participating in the occupation of the National Election Commission and the plan to detain its staff. The prosecution also sought 12-year sentences each for Kim Bongkyu, former head of the Central Newspaper Corps, and Jeong Seonguk, former head of the 2nd Business Unit of the 100th Brigade.

The special prosecutor stated, "The defendants believed that the rebellion orchestrated by the president and the defense minister, using martial law as a tool, would succeed, and they actively carried out the assigned tasks in order to share the benefits. Their crimes amount to mobilizing the country’s military system for private purposes, paralyzing the core constitutional bodies such as the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, and attempting to destroy the constitutional order of state functioning as designed by law."

The prosecutor compared those who simply obeyed superior orders to "an action squad leader who follows the instructions of the head of a violent organization to direct members in carrying out acts of violence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.