Special Prosecutor Dismisses Charges Against Cho Hee-dae Over Alleged Participation in Martial Law...“No New Facts Confirmed”

Case Closed After Complainant Investigation
‘Written Nomination of Supreme Court Justices’ Assigned to CIO Investigation

The second comprehensive special prosecutor's team led by Kwon Changyoung has dismissed the case against Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who was accused of participating in an insurrection during the 12·3 Martial Law.

Chief Justice Hoidae Cho is attending the National Assembly Judiciary Committee's audit held on the 13th. 2025.10.13 Photo by Hyunmin Kim

On September 1, the special prosecutor's team announced through a press release that "on August 20, we dismissed the case against Chief Justice Cho regarding suspicions of participating in insurrection-related key duties."

The special prosecutor's team explained, "After investigating the complainant, no new facts were confirmed, so we decided on dismissal." Dismissal is the procedure for closing a case when the reason for non-prosecution is clear or when further investigation is deemed unnecessary.

Chief Justice Cho was reported for not pointing out the unconstitutionality or illegality of martial law, or for failing to take actions to prevent it, in his role as the head of the judiciary at the time of the proclamation of martial law.

According to reports, the complainant raised an issue with the fact that while Chief Justice Cho convened an emergency executive meeting immediately after the martial law was declared, there was no subsequent official statement of opposition from the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, a separate case in which Chief Justice Cho has been accused of abuse of authority and dereliction of duty for recommending candidates for Supreme Court justice in writing has been assigned to the Investigation Division 1 of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and is currently under investigation.

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