Dispute over document's creation date clouds martial law probe against ex-Prosecutor General Sim

A document central to the indictment of former Prosecutor General Sim Woo-jung is now a focal point of controversy, with disputes arising over its creation date and intended purpose. The special prosecutor's team, led by Cho Eun-seok, revealed a document titled 'Martial Law Investigation Team (Candidate)' obtained from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. They stated the file's creation date is December 5, 2024, at 10:22 AM.

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The file creation time is 10:22 AM on December 5, 2024.

This document reportedly forms the basis for the prosecution's claim that Sim ordered the creation of a list of prosecutors to be dispatched to the martial law command's joint investigation headquarters. The document was initially secured by a previous special investigation team looking into martial law, which believed it was a candidate list for forming a 'Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law Cases' immediately after martial law was declared. The document indeed names potential candidates for the headquarters' leadership, including former Seoul High Prosecutor Park Se-hyun. It also includes the backgrounds of some prosecutors, such as 'Military Security Command Martial Law Document Investigation Team,' suggesting a connection to a 2018 joint investigation by military and civilian agencies into a martial law document from the Park Geun-hye administration.

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The document is a candidate list for forming the Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law Cases.

However, the current special prosecutor's team views the December 5, 2024, timestamp as merely the time the file was downloaded from a messenger service. They contend that the file was created or modified by December 4, 2024, at the latest. They suggest that the file was transferred via messenger and subsequently downloaded, with the download time being recorded as the creation time. This team also considers the possibility that the prosecution initially drafted a list for the joint investigation headquarters before revising it into a candidate list for the special investigation team.

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The file was downloaded from a messenger service, and the download time was recorded as the creation time.

With both special investigation teams holding differing views on the document and Sim Woo-jung maintaining it was a list for dispatching prosecutors to the special investigation team, intense legal battles are anticipated in court over the document's creation date and purpose. The conflicting interpretations highlight the critical role this document plays in the ongoing legal proceedings.

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The document is a list of prosecutors to be dispatched to the special investigation team.