Defense Ministry seeks disciplinary action against ‘around 10’ officials over martial law

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Monday it was seeking disciplinary action against around 10 officials, including military personnel, over their alleged involvement in the Dec. 3 martial law declaration.

The move followed the ministry’s launch of its own task force, part of the Lee Jae Myung administration’s broader sweep of investigations targeting 49 ministries and agencies over misconduct linked to the martial law decree by ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“The task force plans to request disciplinary action against around 10 individuals later in the day, as the investigation and analysis unit under the Defense Ministry’s Task Force on Constitutional Respect and Government Innovation reviews the findings of the ministry’s internal audit,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Chung Bin-na said at a regular press briefing Monday.

Chung said the Defense Ministry had conducted its own internal audits in August, September and October before the launch of the task force, and that the findings are now being reviewed again by the investigation and analysis unit led by Col. Park Jung-hoon.

“Once the review is completed, each case will be referred sequentially for disciplinary action,” Chung said. “Details such as the (exact) number of individuals involved and the specific allegations will be disclosed after the cases are formally referred to the disciplinary committee.”

The Defense Ministry has been operating a 53-member task force — the largest among the 48 task forces established across the government — since Nov. 24.

The investigation and analysis unit was set up under the task force to review follow-up actions such as disciplinary measures and potential investigations, verify and supplement earlier findings, and examine additional allegations of complicity in the martial law declaration.

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