Ex-NIS chief grilled over suspected martial law role

“Cho Tae-yong, a former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), appeared before a special counsel team Monday over allegations linked to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed 2024 martial law bid. Cho is accused of playing a key role in an insurrection by allegedly attempting to contact U.S. intelligence agencies after Yoon's martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, to deliver a message justifying the emergency decree. The special counsel team believes the NIS received a document from the presidential Office of National Security a day after Yoon's declaration along with a request to explain the background of his decree to friendly countries. It suspects that NIS officials called in a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency official to explain the emergency measure at Cho's instructions. Last month, a Seoul district court sentenced Cho to 18 months in prison, finding him guilty of perjury for falsely testifying at the Constitutional Court that he did not receive martial law-related documents from Yoon. Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment in February for leading an insurrection throu

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