Protection Minister Ahn Gyu-back, proper, speaks throughout a gathering of senior army commanders on the Ministry of Nationwide Protection in Yongsan, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of the Ministry of Nationwide Protection
The Ministry of Nationwide Protection has launched an intensive investigation into allegations that the military’s psychological operations unit carried out balloon-borne leaflet missions concentrating on North Korea with out reporting them to its greater command.
The probe contains questioning former and present commanders and conducting on-site inspections of frontline bases, in response to army officers accustomed to the matter.
The ministry’s Inspection and Investigation Bureau dispatched a group of greater than 20 investigators to 2 models on islands within the West Sea and alongside the western entrance line on Monday, following an pressing directive from Protection Minister Ahn Gyu-back. Investigators accomplished their first spherical of fieldwork on Wednesday earlier than returning to Seoul for additional evaluate.
They later summoned commanders who led the unit between late 2022 and mid-2024 to find out whether or not unauthorized operations had taken place throughout their tenure.
The investigation was triggered by testimony from a former enlisted soldier who served within the unit. The soldier instructed an area newspaper that between October 2023 and early December 2024, the unit carried out greater than 10 leaflet drops with out alerting its greater command — actions he mentioned might have drawn a army response from the North. The testimony additionally claimed that South Korean forces had performed leaflet operations even earlier than Pyongyang started sending waste-filled balloons towards the South.
President Lee Jae Myung drew additional consideration to the case on Monday, posting the report on his social media account and warning that “hidden acts of rebellion” shouldn’t be allowed to recur. Navy officers say the president additionally conveyed dissatisfaction with what he considered as inadequate progress on issues linked to the Dec. 3 martial regulation declaration final yr, together with disciplinary actions for officers concerned in different latest controversies.
Following the president’s remarks, Ahn ordered further inside measures. The ministry eliminated its chief auditor and authorized affairs director from their posts after criticism that disciplinary choices — together with these associated to the so-called “martial regulation bus” case and a separate Marine’s loss of life investigation — had been excessively lenient.
The “martial regulation bus” case entails former Military Vice Chief of Workers Koh Hyun-seok, who allegedly ordered senior officers onto buses and despatched them to Seoul in the course of the martial regulation declaration, in addition to 34 different officers now dealing with disciplinary evaluate. Koh is anticipated to be referred to a disciplinary board, and several other officers have already obtained revised penalties following authorities intervention.
The ministry is anticipated to proceed reviewing the unit’s reporting procedures and operational decision-making because it evaluates the preliminary findings. Officers say additional interviews and doc checks are possible because the investigation expands to find out how and why the leaflet missions had been carried out with out authorization.
