The prosecution has sought an arrest warrant for a key figure in the controversial martial law plan drafted before the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office on Friday requested an arrest warrant for Cho Hyun-chun, the former chief of the now-defunct Defense Security Command(DSC), on charges of abuse of authority and intervention in politics.
The charge of insurrection conspiracy, the key allegation, was not included. The prosecution plans to continue investigation into the allegation after taking Cho into custody.
Cho is suspected of ordering a DSC taskforce to draw up a contingency plan to declare martial law and reported it to then-defense minister Han Min-koo in February 2017 ahead of the Constitutional Court's ruling on Park's impeachment.
The martial law plan included mobilizing tanks and armored vehicles in Gwanghwamun and Yeouido if a rejection of Park's impeachment by the court provoked more severe public protests.
After retiring in September 2017, Cho fled to the U.S. three months later amid a widening probe into the case. He was detained at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday upon his arrival from the U.S.