Suspicion of Deletion of Two Months’ Records from the People Power Party's Telegram Chat Room
Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok has discovered that Telegram conversation records, which could serve as crucial evidence in the investigation of the People Power Party (PPP) leadership's alleged obstruction of the National Assembly's vote on the lifting of martial law, have been deleted.
According to a report by Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 12th, the special prosecutor's office obtained and analyzed the chat records of the Telegram group chat that included all PPP lawmakers (108 members at the time) from December 3 last year, around the time of the martial law announcement. It was confirmed that conversations from late October to mid-December of last year had been deleted.
In particular, the text announcements from the then-PPP floor leader Choi Kyung-ho and other leadership members, as well as conversations among PPP lawmakers, that were posted on the day the martial law was declared, have all disappeared.
The special prosecutor is expected to summon and investigate Congressman A, who was the administrator of the chat room at that time.
People Power Party Leadership Changed Meeting Location Multiple Times on the Day of the Martial Law
The PPP leadership, including former floor leader Choi Kyung-ho, changed the location of the general assembly multiple times soon after declaring martial law on December 3-4 last year.
As a result, PPP lawmakers were scattered across various locations such as the central party office and the National Assembly, ultimately leading to only 18 participating in the vote to lift the martial law.
Additionally, following news that former President Yoon Suk-yeol had a phone conversation about an hour after the declaration of martial law with former floor leader Choi Kyung-ho and lawmaker Na Kyung-won, suspicions have emerged that Choi and others intentionally obstructed the voting of party-affiliated lawmakers at the direction of former President Yoon.
“Accidental Deletion… Discovered After Martial Law, Preserving Records”
In response, the People Power Party explained that the deletion of the Telegram chat records was merely an accident.
The party's emergency response committee and floor leader's office announced that “on October 29 last year, due to a misunderstanding by a certain lawmaker, the entire PPP Telegram group was set to 'weekly full deletion' mode.” They added, “Afterward, in mid-December, the lawmakers recognized that the content of the group chat was being fully deleted and implemented an automatic timer disablement measure, and have been preserving the Telegram chat room records ever since.”
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor's office called lawmakers Jo Kyung-tae and Kim Ye-ji as witnesses for questioning on the 11th and is investigating the context of former floor leader Choi Kyung-ho's consecutive phone calls with former senior presidential secretary Hong Cheol-ho, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, and former President Yoon immediately after the declaration of martial law.
Image source: Former President Yoon Suk-yeol / News1, Song Eon-seok, chairman of the PPP emergency response committee and floor leader, and lawmakers are performing a national ceremony at a lawmakers' meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the morning of August 4, 2025 / News1, Martial law forces exiting the National Assembly after the demand for the lifting of martial law is passed / News1, On May 7, the PPP's Choi Kyung-ho and Kim Gi-hyeon are seen engaging in conversation at a lawmakers' meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul / News1.
