Special Prosecutor Indicts Former Security Chief Park Jongjun Without Detention Over 'Secure Phone Deletion Allegations' in Insurrection Case

Former Presidential Security Service Chief Park Jongjun appeared on July 4 at the Special Investigation Office for the Treason Case set up at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to undergo questioning.

원본보기 아이콘

Former Presidential Security Service Chief Park Jongjun has been indicted in connection with allegations of deleting data from a secure phone.

The Special Prosecutor's Office for the 12·3 Martial Law Case, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eunseok, announced on the 10th that Park was indicted without detention the previous day on charges of destroying evidence in the insurrection-related criminal case involving former President Yoon Sukyeol and others.

According to the special prosecutor's team, Park is accused of arbitrarily deleting information from the secure phone of Hong Jangwon, former First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, by performing a 'remote logout' after the martial law incident. On December 6 of last year, at around 4:43 p.m., Park called Cho Taeyong, former Director of the National Intelligence Service, and discussed matters related to Hong's secure phone.

Park raised concerns over the partial public disclosure of the secure phone's screen through the National Assembly and asked, "There are even rumors that Hong Jangwon has been dismissed. Is it possible to retrieve the secure phone?" At that time, Hong had already submitted his resignation to the NIS at Cho's request. Once the dismissal process was completed, Hong's secure phone was also scheduled to be returned to the NIS security department in accordance with procedure.

However, Cho told Park, "We are unable to locate Hong Jangwon and cannot reach him, so it seems impossible to retrieve the secure phone." In response, Park said, "Since this constitutes a security incident due to the loss of the secure phone, I will perform a logout on Hong Jangwon's secure phone. The phone must be deleted to prevent call records from being exposed." Cho replied, "That sounds like the right course of action."

The special prosecutor's team concluded that Park acted with the intent to destroy evidence related to the insurrection and indicted him on charges of evidence destruction.

Meanwhile, Park is also on trial for allegedly obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for former President Yoon by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in January, on charges including obstruction of official duties.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.