ROK Troops Defied Martial Law Order By Eating Instant Noodles at a Convenience Store
|I have said this before, but it was foolish of President Yoon to think Soldiers in the modern day ROK Army would want anything to do with being part of a Gwangju Uprising like event. This just shows what a disconnect the elites in the ROK government have with their rank and file Soldiers if they thought they would follow these martial law orders:
The actions of military officers who resisted what they viewed as unconstitutional orders during the chaos of the Dec. 3 martial law declaration are drawing renewed attention, highlighting how many, despite their duty to obey, took a stand against unjust commands.
Rep. Lee Gi-heon of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea said in a press release on Dec. 9 that “on the night of Dec. 3, when President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, there were counterintelligence officers and personnel who resisted the orders in various ways.”
He cited cases brought to his attention. The military counterintelligence command had been designated as a key unit to be deployed to the National Election Commission (NEC) under martial law.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has said the decision to deploy martial law troops to the National Election Commission was made “to assess the need for investigations into alleged fraud in the general election” in which opposition parties scored landslide wins over the ruling People Power Party.
The soldiers of the key investigative unit exhibited passive behavior before, during, and after their deployment to the NEC.
Kim Dae-woo, the commander of the Counterintelligence Command, is said to have summoned over 100 investigators prior to the declaration of martial law to assign tasks related to entering the commission.
When Major Choi expressed disbelief at the orders, Kim allegedly beat him severely, forced him onto a bus, and sent him to the commission, instructing him to secure the servers.
Despite the coercion, soldiers continued their resistance. Upon arriving at the NEC, they delayed executing the orders, which they believed were illegal, by engaging in trivial activities, such as eating instant noodles at a nearby convenience store.
You can read more at the link, but that must have been quite the site for the convenience store worker to see all these heavily armed Soldiers come in late at night and eat noodles.
The disconnect was that Yoon appears to have done this nearly unilaterally, and everyone picked up on that and bailed. Successful coups typically have a good bit of foreplay to justify the action and get others on board, which again, Yoon did not do. The political argument is changing though. We’ve gone from shock and disbelief to major voices in the PPP defending martial law as an “act of governance.” More, videos claiming the DPK are the party of crime and treason are going viral. Public opinion is very much crafted and it’s likely in a few years of messaging the Korean right will be prepared to pull something like this off.
What do you mean unilaterally? He had close cooperation from three generals. One of them flew drones over North Korea to fish them to attack the South. Another one ordered the South Korean troops to pulverize the North Korean positions the next time they sent their trash balloons. Another one proudly let everyone know he was an admirer of Chun Doo Hwan (his office plastered with his pictures). Yoon also had help from his cabinet ministers, as well as support from the PPP party.
The entire Yoon’s cabinet ministry, the military, the police, the prosecutors office, the Supreme court, the Justice Department and the entire PPP party .. all tainted with Yoon’s influence.
After this is all over, Korea’s entire government institutions must be purged of this infection. There should be sweeping investigations and charges followed by trials and imprisonments. Any forms of rightwing traitorous acts, activity, sympathy, or support, should be completely liquidated and expunged. Anyone guilty should never be left to become involved in the elections. Treat them just like how the UPP party was made to go extinct.