Home > National > Social Affairs

Ex-JCS chief banned from leaving country over alleged role in martial law

Published: 11 Mar. 2026, 15:53

Gen. Jin Yong-sung, left, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, center, and retiring Adm. Kim Myung-soo attend a ceremony marking Jin's inauguration as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul on Sept. 30, 2025. [YONHAP]

A retired admiral who served as the country's highest-ranking military officer has been banned from leaving the country over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid, a special counsel team said on Wednesday.

Retired Adm. Kim Myung-soo, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and other former JCS officials have been booked and slapped with exit bans over their involvement in the short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024, according to the team.

“[We] have booked those who were JCS officials at the time [of the martial law attempt] on charges of playing key roles in an insurrection and have imposed exit bans,” assistant special counsel Kim Ji-mi said in a briefing. “There are plans to conduct witness questioning in connection with the officials soon.”

The other booked officials include Jeong Jin-pal, the former JCS vice chairman, and Kang Dong-gil, who headed the JCS's directorate of military support at the time.

They are accused of participating in an insurrection by forming the martial law command as they watched troops enter the National Assembly compound on the night of Yoon's declaration.

The special counsel team, which launched last month, is tasked with reopening investigations surrounding Yoon, his failed martial law bid and allegations involving his wife after three special probes ended without fully addressing them.

Yonhap