Just six days after being appointed to investigate former President Yoon Suk-yeol on charges of insurrection and treason, Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk has indicted former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. This marks the first indictment among the three ongoing special counsel investigations. Even before Cho’s full team was assembled, his office has moved swiftly into action, signaling intensifying competition among the special counsels to expedite their respective investigations.

On June 19, Cho said, “We indicted former Minister Kim on the night of the 18th on charges of obstruction of justice through deceit and incitement to destroy evidence.”

Kim was initially indicted and detained on December 27 of last year on charges related to insurrection, becoming the first person prosecuted among those allegedly involved in the unlawful imposition of martial law last December 3. Cho received the case files on June 12 upon his appointment as special counsel and officially launched the investigation on the 18th, and on the same day, he filed the additional charges against Kim.

According to police and prosecutors, on December 2 last year, the day before the planned martial law declaration, Kim allegedly deceived the Presidential Security Service to obtain a secure phone and handed it over to a civilian and a retired military officer Noh Sang-won. Prosecutors previously concluded that Kim obtained the phone through then-Deputy Chief of the Presidential Security Service Kim Sung-hoon and delivered it to Noh, who went on to use the device while acting as the head of a so-called "Second Investigation Unit" tasked with probing alleged election fraud at the National Election Commission.

Kim is also accused of ordering the destruction of martial law-related documents, as well as his own mobile phone and laptop, on December 5 of last year. During the investigation, prosecutors questioned Kim’s close aide, surnamed Yang, who testified that Kim instructed him to replace the phone and dispose of the laptop, saying they were “smashed with a hammer.”

On that day, Special Counsel Cho urged the court to issue an additional arrest warrant for former Minister Kim. Speaking to reporters, Cho said, “We submitted a written request to the court calling for the swift consolidation of the newly indicted case, the revocation of the bail decision, and the issuance of an additional arrest warrant for Kim.” Concerned that releasing Kim, a key figure in the insurrection case, could hinder the investigation, Cho’s team is seeking to secure his custody. Kim’s current six-month pretrial detention is set to expire on June 26.

On June 16, the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 25, presided over by Judge Jee Kui-youn, granted Kim conditional bail upon the prosecution’s request. With his detention period nearing its end, Kim has filed appeals and motions for suspension of execution, arguing that the new indictment is effectively an attempt to extend his custody. If no additional arrest warrant is issued, Kim will be released on the 26th.