Seoul to investigate military plan for crackdown on anti-Park protesters

SEOUL, July 10 (UPI) -- South Korea will investigate the military's controversial plan to use force to quell protesters calling for the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye last year.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered the establishment of an independent body to look into the issue, presidential office spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said during a press briefing on Tuesday, according to Yonhap.

The investigation body will consist of military prosecutors not related to military units responsible for the document and will have autonomy from the Defense Ministry.

"The reason for making it independent is that there is a chance that former and current of defense ministry officials are involved," Kim said. "And investigation by any related military prosecutors will not be enough to dissolve skepticism."

A military document detailing plans for the crackdown on anti-Park protesters was disclosed last week by a ruling party lawmaker.

The document, dated March 2017, includes plans for declaring martial law and mobilizing military forces if massive protests erupted across the nation in the event the court rejected the impeachment of Park. It was written by the counterterrorism and counterintelligence military agency Defense Security Command.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets for months starting in October 2016, outraged by a series of corruption and influence-peddling scandals involving Park. Protests continued every weekend calling for her to step down. In March 2017, the South Korean Constitutional Court reached an unanimous decision to impeach Park.

The Center for Military Human Rights Korea also filed petitions against former and current top officials of the DSC on Tuesday, News 1 reported.

The Seoul-based civic group acquired and released the full military report on its website last week. The report details plans to mobilize military resources and soldiers, including 200 tanks, 550 armored vehicles, 4,800 armed troops and 1,400 special forces in Seoul, as well as nationwide military operations.