Category: Politics-Korea

Here is the latest update from the ongoing impeachment trial:

Impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told the Constitutional Court that Cabinet ministers were concerned about President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law bid and attempted to dissuade him before he announced it on Dec. 3. 

Han, who was impeached on Dec. 14 over his alleged role in Yoon’s botched martial law bid, made the remarks as he attended what is likely the last hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial Thursday.

“As I recall, all (Cabinet members) were concerned and tried to dissuade him,” Han said, referring to a hastily arranged meeting of some Cabinet ministers shortly before Yoon’s surprise imposition of martial law. 

When asked about former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun’s testimony that some members were in favor of Yoon’s plan, Han replied, “From what I recall, that was not the case at all.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The fact that there is a large pro-Yoon protest in Gwangju of all places has to be highly disturbing to the Korean left:

A longtime symbol of South Korea’s pro-democracy movement, Geumnam-ro Street in Gwangju became the staging ground for intensifying political divisions on Saturday, with protesters supporting and opposing President Yoon Suk Yeol gathering at the same time.

The two rallies, held separately along a 680-meter course from May 18 Democracy Square — commemorating the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising — to Geumnam-ro, saw the biggest crowd in Gwangju since Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, and, in particular, the largest anti-impeachment rally.

The conservative Christian organization Save Korea organized a rally opposing Yoon’s impeachment along Geumnam-ro, specifically on sections 3 and 4 of the road from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.

While this was happening, a rally in favor of impeaching Yoon was held on the other side of Geumnam-ro, led by the civic group Gwangju Emergency Action for Immediate Resignation of the Yoon Administration and Social Reform.

To maintain order and prevent physical clashes, police formed barriers between the opposing groups using riot buses.

Local media reported that the police unofficially put the number of people who participated in the anti-Yoon impeachment protest at 30,000, while 10,000 to 20,000 participated in the pro-Yoon impeachment protest.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Moon is correct that if he did not pick Yoon as his prosecutor general he would not have had the name recognition to compete for the Presidency:

Former President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over his decision to appoint President Yoon Suk Yeol as prosecutor general in 2019, a move that ultimately paved the way for Yoon’s rise to political stardom.

In a rare interview published on Monday, Moon, who has been critical of his successor’s governance, admitted that the appointment played a role in the formation of the Yoon administration.

“There are many things I regret throughout the (appointment) process, but ultimately, the fact that our administration led to the creation of the Yoon Suk Yeol government is something we cannot distance ourselves from. Of course, I bear the greatest responsibility for that. I sincerely regret any distress this has caused to the public,” Moon said in an interview with The Hankyoreh, a center-left daily newspaper in Korea.

“Even before the declaration of martial law, the Yoon government was performing poorly. I felt a deep sense of self-reproach for having handed over power to such individuals. And now, with the impeachment motion and the martial law crisis, the extent of this feeling is indescribable,” he said.

This interview marked the former liberal president’s first official media appearance since he handed power to Yoon in May 2022.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the difference between Yoon getting impeached and possibly going to jail is two similar sounding Korean words:

A former military commander involved in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law bid confirmed Thursday that the people Yoon ordered to be removed from the National Assembly were lawmakers, not agents, a claim that Yoon again rejected.

Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, the then chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, made the remark as a witness during the sixth formal hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.

Yoon was also in attendance.

“I obviously thought and understood the part about dragging people out from inside as referring to lawmakers because there were no operation agents inside the main (parliamentary) building at the time,” Kwak said, referring to a phone call he received from Yoon on the night martial law was imposed on Dec. 3.

Kwak was confirming testimony he has previously given in parliament, as former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has disputed the claim, saying Yoon had in fact ordered the removal of agents, not lawmakers.

In Korean, the words for agent and lawmaker are similar in pronunciation.

Yoon once again denied the claim — saying he has never used the term “agent” — and accused Kwak of plotting against him.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Former ROK intelligence commander Roh Sang-won apparently sought the advice of a Shaman based out of Gunsan over 20 times over the past two years:

Lee Sun-jin, a shaman known as “Vidan A” testified to the National Assembly on the 4th that former intelligence commander Roh Sang-won visited him and saw the fortune and fortune of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and military officials related to martial law.

Lee appeared as a witness at the Special Committee on the Investigation of State Affairs to Investigate Alleged Insurrection by the Yoon Suk Yeol Government’s Declaration of Emergency Security.

Lee said, “Former commander Roh created a problem with former minister Kim and said that if it goes well, he may work in the government again.”

“[Former commander Roh] brought Minister Kim Yong-hyun’s name and date of birth at first,” Lee said. So I said, ‘I don’t think this person is an ordinary soldier,’ he said. “That was before (former minister Kim) became a minister, and (former commander Roh) said this person would become a minister later.”

When asked by Rep. Han Byung-do of the Democratic Party of Korea, “Did former commander Roh bring a list of soldiers to search for traitors and request a fortune teller?” Lee replied, “That’s right.”

He then explained, “I asked a lot if I could follow him to the end when I (gave him) together, and I asked a lot of luck for each soldier.”

Maeil Business Newspaper

You can read more about how this fortune teller warned Roh before the martial law decree that Yoon would be impeached at this link.

Shouldn’t you had made peace in order to receive a peace prize?:

A wave of controversies has erupted between the two rival parties here following a recommendation on Tuesday by a main opposition lawmaker suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump be considered a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the party’s senior spokesperson, Jo Seoung-lae, Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) recommended Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in facilitating dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. during former President Moon Jae-in’s administration.

“The recommendation was made on Jan. 30 to the Norwegian Nobel Committee and party leader Lee Jae-myung and senior DPK Rep. Kim Min-seok have been informed about this,” he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if the DPK wants to get into the good graces of Trump recommending him for a Nobel Peace Prize may do it.

If Yoon was trying to arrest members of the Korean parliament, it was the most incompetent coup attempt ever:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday he ordered sending troops to offices of the National Election Commission (NEC) during his martial law declaration as he has suspected election fraud allegations.

Yoon made the admission while attending the fifth formal hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, where he again denied allegations that he ordered military commanders to drag lawmakers out of parliament in an attempt to prevent them from blocking the martial law imposition. (……)

Yoon is also alleged to have sent military troops to the National Assembly to keep lawmakers from voting down the martial law declaration and to have planned to arrest key political figures.

“Nothing actually happened (during martial law decree) … I feel like we are chasing the moon’s shadow on a lake,” Yoon said. “You would know the true nature of this case if you saw it based on common sense.”

Yoon claimed that dragging lawmakers from parliament could not have been possible as there are thousands of civilians in the National Assembly compound and troops were withdrawn after martial law was lifted.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is impeached President Yoon’s opinion on his martial law decree:

 Indicted over charges of leading an insurrection in December, President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his decision to declare martial law in a meeting with his legal representatives on Tuesday.

Seok Dong-hyeon, one of Yoon’s lawyers, told reporters that Yoon wondered aloud how his decision to impose martial law on Dec. 3 could be considered an act of insurrection when “everything was done within the boundaries of the Constitution.” (…….)

According to Seok, Yoon said he exercised his constitutional rights to declare martial law to inform the people of the crisis that the nation was facing, with the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) having taken over parliament.

Yoon also noted that he immediately lifted the martial law once the National Assembly voted down his declaration.

Yoon told his lawyers that his action could not constitute an act of insurrection because there had not been any bloodshed or casualties, nor had there been any arrest of politicians.

Seok said Yoon claimed that he had never intended to maintain martial law for an extended stretch of time because he had not prepared any manual on how to run the administrative and judicial branches in such a state, and because he had fully expected the National Assembly to promptly vote it down.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder what will happen if the legal system convicts Yoon of treason, but the Constitutional Court does not approve his impeachment?:

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun, legal representative for President Yoon Suk Yeol, speaks during a press conference held near Gangnam Station in Seoul on Saturday.

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun argued that the declaration of martial law by President Yoon could never constitute treason, stating, “Martial law is a constitutional authority granted to the president, and there has never been a case where the exercise of emergency powers by the president was punished as treason. This conclusion is supported by the majority of constitutional scholars.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.