Category: Politics-Korea

It seems like the major objective of the martial law decree was to prove election fraud. If fraud was going on it would seem any evidence would have been disposed of long ago. Additionally why wasn’t legal means taken against the National Election Commission instead of attempting a military raid?:

President Yoon Suk Yeol had conducted a legal review of last week’s martial law decree in person while rewriting it, the ex-defense minister, one of the key suspects in the alleged insurrection, said Wednesday.

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was questioned by prosecutors at a detention facility for the first time since his arrest earlier in the day.

During the five-hour questioning, he reportedly testified that President Yoon conducted a legal review of the martial law declaration by himself, and that he and the president co-wrote the final draft, with Yoon editing part of the content.

Additionally, Kim is said to have assigned duties related to martial law to top military officials on Dec. 1 and attempted to access facilities connected to the National Election Commission to secure evidence concerning allegations of election fraud.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I still find it amazing that President Yoon was convinced that the military would go along with his martial law plan. Young Soldiers today in the ROK army grew up socialized against another Gwangju Uprising incident and want no part of being involved in one today:

The chief of the Army Special Warfare Command said Tuesday he was ordered by President Yoon Suk Yeol to drag out lawmakers from the National Assembly building during martial law operations last week.

Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun made the claim during a parliamentary defense committee meeting, saying Yoon called him on a secured phone.

“He said the quorum didn’t appear to be met yet, so I should break down the doors, and go in and drag out the people inside,” he said.

The commander was referring to the quorum for lifting Yoon’s martial law decree, which is 150 of the 300 members of parliament. Ultimately, 190 lawmakers voted unanimously to lift the order.

Kwak said he consulted with commanders in the field about whether to storm into the parliamentary building while firing blanks or cut off power to stop the lawmakers from voting.

The commanders advised against such actions, and Kwak said he agreed with their judgment.

“Even if they were to go inside to execute the order, the troops involved would later become lawbreakers and too many people would be injured if they broke their way in, so I judged it wasn’t right,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Lt. Gen. Kwak also said that President Yoon never told them use or fire their weapons.

Talk about getting bad advice from someone, Kim Yong-hyun is a fool to think ROK Soldiers would go along with this martial law attempt:

On Sunday, ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun was taken into custody at a Seoul detention facility after undergoing an investigation by prosecutors, a law enforcement official said, requesting anonymity in line with privacy rules. The official gave no further details. But South Korean media reported that Kim voluntarily appeared at a Seoul prosecutors’ office, where he had his mobile phone confiscated and was detained.

The reports said police searched Kim’s former office and residence on Sunday. Repeated calls to Seoul prosecutors’ offices and police agency were unanswered. Senior prosecutor Park Se-hyun said in a televised statement Sunday that authorities launched a 62-member special investigation team on the marital law case. Park, who will head the team, said the probe would “leave no suspicions.” Yoon accepted Kim’s resignation offer on Thursday after opposition parties submitted a separate impeachment motion against him.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but a six month resignation window would give the political parties enough time to select a candidate and conduct an effective campaign in my opinion. Those pushing for a constitutional change to a four year Presidential term are likely trying to save Yoon the humiliation of resigning:

The PPP leadership is under growing pressure to present a unified exit plan as opposition parties have vowed to submit a second impeachment motion as early as Wednesday, with plans to table the motion at a plenary session on Thursday. The lack of a consensus on Yoon’s exit plan within the PPP may threaten a unified front to boycott a second impeachment motion.

PPP lawmakers aligned with Han have advocated for Yoon to step down as early as within six months, a scenario that would trigger a presidential election within 60 days from his removal in accordance with related laws. 

However, pro-Yoon lawmakers are calling for a more gradual timeline, with some suggesting a constitutional amendment to shorten the presidential term. This process could delay his resignation until 2026.

The president’s five-year term officially ends in May 2027, but his political career has been cut short following the martial law fiasco on Dec. 3, with growing public calls for impeachment.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like South Korea will not have its president attending any international events any time soon:

President Yoon Suk Yeol was placed under a travel ban Monday pending an investigation into treason and other charges related to his short-lived imposition of martial law last week, with political turmoil deepening over Yoon’s political future.

The ban was imposed by the justice ministry shortly after the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said it had submitted a request for the order.

Yoon has been booked as a suspect in simultaneous investigations conducted by the police, the prosecution and the CIO over his surprise declaration of martial law last Tuesday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is another interesting article from the Joong Ang Ilbo which explains the perspective a ROK Army brigade commander had on the night of the martial law attempt. He thought his troops were responding to a terrorist attack on the national assembly. Once the situation became more clear what was going on he had his troops retreat:

Brig. Gen. Lee Sang-hyun, head of the 1st Airborne Brigade of Korea’s Special Warfare Command

The 1st Airborne Brigade of Korea’s Special Warfare Command was the unit that was directly dispatched to the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law Tuesday night. 
  
Two battalions, consisting of about 250 soldiers in total, were deployed to Yeouido at the time. About 210 soldiers entered the parliamentary grounds while the rest entered the main building of the National Assembly. 
  
“The upper commanders told us to take the lawmakers out of the [National Assembly] even if it means breaking the doors or cutting electricity,” said Brigadier General Lee Sang-hyun, commander of the 1st Airborne Brigade, in a phone interview with the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily. “I was shocked.” (…………….)

At first, I thought there had been a terrorist attack. No one knew what was going on even in our intelligence team. Then I remembered that Kwak had ordered me ‘not to distribute live ammunition to the soldiers’ while giving instructions for the deployment. That made me think it might not be a terror situation. (…….)

The battalion commander said National Assembly aides are confronting them, blocking their path by stacking objects. The commander said the 707th Special Mission Group were also alongside them, adding that it seems strange that civilians are blocking their way because if it is a terror attack they would make way for the soldiers to get inside.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but he ultimately had his troops retreat after being told to break down doors and pull lawmakers out of the National Assembly.

The Joong Ang Ilbo has a gun rundown of events that happened the night President Yoon declared martial law. Even the conservative Joong Ang Ilbo believes illegal acts were committed:

Commander Kwak Jong-geun from the Army Special Warfare Command, center, talks during an interview with Democratic Party Rep. Kim Byung-joo, left, streamed on Kim’s YouTube channel on Friday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

It turned out that Yoon made direct calls to the commanders of the Army Special Warfare Command and Capital Defense Command (CDC) to confirm the movements of troops. It was also revealed that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun ordered the commanders to stand by even before the martial law declaration and deploy the armed forces prior to the issuance, which could also be seen as an attempt to take control of the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, led by a few figures in key roles under Yoon’s authority. 
  
Based on the testimonies of relevant figures at the National Assembly and media interviews, it is highly likely that the top-secret movements by those chosen by the president were carried out with total disregard for the chain of command, even before the decree came into force. In other words, some illegal acts may have been committed. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

Here is why the martial law attempt failed:

Lieutenant Generals Kwak Jong-geun of the Army Special Warfare Command and Lee Jin-woo of the Capital Defense Command stated that they received a standby order from former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun both before and after Yoon’s proclamation of martial law.  
  
They added that Yoon was involved in the process of ordering the movement of troops. This could be an important clue in determining who is responsible for the armed forces deployment as the order bypassed the martial law commander, who has full command in a martial law situation. (………)

“Through a call, I was ordered by Kim to secure the National Assembly facilities and National Election Commission facilities, as well as to mobilize armed forces to control those,” Kwak added in the interview. 
  
The lieutenant general said he was also ordered to pull out lawmakers from the plenary session, but he “did not respond due to the certain illegality.”

The martial law attempt has caused a political crisis in South Korea, but one thing ROK citizens should be proud of is that their military did not go along with this attempt to silence the democratically elected opposition. If Lt. Gen. Kwak obeyed the order and fully sealed off the National Assembly and NEC we might be in a very different Korea right now. Fortunately he did not.