(LEAD) Ex-KTV chief indicted over alleged insurrection propaganda

A special counsel team in South Korea indicted ex-head of public broadcaster KTV Lee Eun-woo on Tuesday for alleged insurrection propaganda. The team, led by Kwon Chang-young, charged him with spreading insurrection under the Criminal Act, without detention, for promoting former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law in 2024. Lee is accused of directing KTV to broadcast reports supporting the legitimacy of Yoon's martial law for approximately 10 days post-declaration on December 3, 2024, while suppressing and deleting critical reports about the measure.

According to Article 90 of the Criminal Act, a person inciting or propagating insurrection faces imprisonment for at least three years. Kwon's team determined the insurrection's end date as December 14, 2024, after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against Yoon, not the martial law's lifting on December 4, 2024.

Lee has previously been on trial for allegedly censoring critical content in December 2024; he was acquitted of insurrection propaganda charges but received a one-year suspended prison sentence in June. In May, Kwon also sought an arrest warrant for Heo Suk-gon, former head of the National Fire Agency, accusing him of playing a key role in the insurrection by following Interior Minister Lee Sang-min's orders to cut power and water to media outlets critical of Yoon following the former president's declaration of martial law.