Tag: martial law

These generals despite being dismissed from the military are still being tried in civilian court and could be jailed:

The defense ministry said Monday it has decided to take “severe” disciplinary action against five senior Army officers for their involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed bid to impose martial law last year.

The decision came after the ministry held a committee meeting earlier this month to decide on disciplinary action against eight senior Army officers — seven generals and one colonel — involved in the martial law bid on Dec. 3 last year. (…..)

Yeo and Lee are believed to face removal from office, the toughest level of disciplinary action.

Kwak is said to face dismissal, the second-highest level of punishment imposed, in consideration of his efforts to help restore constitutional order and uncover the truth behind the martial law through testimonies at Yoon’s trials.

Meanwhile, a former Army vice chief of staff was also reportedly handed the second-highest level of disciplinary action, while a colonel with the Defense Counterintelligence Command was given a two-month suspension.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The purge of President Lee’s political enemies using the martial law scandal continues:

 A special counsel team indicted former People Power Party (PPP) floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho on Sunday on charges related to ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law bid last December.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s investigation team said Choo was indicted without physical detention on allegations that he blocked party lawmakers from participating in a parliamentary vote to lift the martial law decree issued on Dec. 3 last year. (……..)

Choo, once considered a key ally of Yoon, is accused of deliberately and repeatedly changing the venue of an emergency party meeting on the night of Dec. 3 at the request of Yoon. The PPP was the ruling party when Yoon was the president.

Due to the changes, only 18 of the PPP’s 108 lawmakers took part in the parliamentary vote to lift Yoon’s decree, which passed unanimously early the next morning among the 190 lawmakers present.

Choo immediately denounced prosecutors for what he called an “unwarranted” indictment based on fabricated charges, claiming he had not received any request from Yoon regarding the martial law.

“The special counsel proceeded ahead with its political indictment without further evidence, even after its request for an arrest warrant was dismissed for failing to substantiate the charges,” Choo said in a press release, accusing the investigation team of political persecution.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

When the martial law decree happened I said it was foolish of Yoon to think that ROK Soldiers would want to be involved in anything that could devolve into a modern day Gwangju Uprising like event. That is exactly what happened as Soldiers went and ate ramen noodles at local convenience stores instead of following orders. Who would imagine that going to eat ramen noodles could lead to a promotion for them:

South Korean soldiers who refused to obey unlawful orders during former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law attempt last year could receive early promotions, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The military last week launched a closer look at the actions of soldiers on duty after Yoon’s short-lived martial law decree late Dec. 3 and early Dec. 4, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday at a news conference in Seoul.

Roughly 200 soldiers — many of them from special forces units — were deployed to the National Assembly building in the capital after Yoon’s edict that night. Some troops blocked the building’s entrance as lawmakers attempted to convene and vote to overturn Yoon’s order. Yoon, who faces trial on charges of insurrection and abuse of authority, has denied deploying troops to prevent lawmakers from reversing the martial law. His attorneys have said the troops were deployed as a precautionary measure and to instill order. Service members who are found to have “performed their duties as soldiers” without following “improper orders” could receive commendations, the spokesman said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if Hong has an immunity deal of some kind in return for his testimony? If so it should be disclosed:

A list of politicians who President Yoon Suk Yeol allegedly ordered to be arrested has been at the center of the president’s impeachment trial this month along with the whistleblower who disclosed it as crucial evidence. Hong Jang-won, one of 16 witnesses summoned in Yoon’s impeachment, which began on Jan. 14, is the only figure who has been called into the Constitutional Court twice.

As a graduate of the 43rd class of the Korea Military Academy, Hong worked as South Korea’s top spy specializing in overseas intelligence and North Korea for over 30 years. (…….)

Hong appeared in court again on Thursday after the president’s legal team raised concerns about the credibility of his testimony. Hong’s testimony given on Feb. 4 drew significant attention as he claimed that Yoon ordered him to arrest key political figures on the night of the short-lived martial law declaration on Dec. 3.

“Take this opportunity to round them (the lawmakers) all up. The NIS will be given counterespionage authority, so for now, assist the Defense Counterintelligence Command (in doing so),” Yoon told him, according to Hong. (……..)

According to Hong, soon after Yoon called him at 10:53 p.m., he received a call from then-DCC chief Yeo In-hyeong, who listed the names of the people to be arrested that night.

“‘Is he insane?’ I thought, and then I stopped writing (people’s names) during the call,” Hong testified in court on Feb. 4, recalling his reaction as he heard the names.

“Lee Jae-myung, Woo Won-shik, Han Dong-hoon, Park Chan-dae, Cho Kook…” Hong listed the names without hesitance when Yoon’s lawyer asked who they were.

However, NIS Director Cho Tae-yong — Hong’s boss — raised strong doubts about the veracity of the alleged note during his own testimony as a witness on Feb. 13.

“I’ve checked the surveillance camera footage,” Cho told the court, adding that Hong was in his office at the time when he claims he was near Cho’s official residence.

Hong on Thursday admitted to a “slight error” in his memory.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but how do you have memory lapses with something as significant as this?

That is what the Joong Ang Ilbo is speculating on:

One month ago, far-right political YouTuber and popular pundit Ko Sung-kook uploaded  videos that mirrored the president’s televised public address, including the tone and rhetoric.   

“No one trusts the polls and the NEC [National Election Commission] anymore. They carry the votes around in a basket and are a severe threat to democracy. They should not be trusted,” Ko is filmed telling his 1.1 million subscribers.  

Ko is just one in an ecosystem of far-right political YouTubers who support their beliefs by stretching the truth and spreading unfounded ideas that extend to conspiracy theories.  (Joong Ang Ilbo)

You can read more at the link, but basically the Korean public has lost faith in legacy media and has turned to YouTube personalities for what they believe is less bias news. Yoon is supposedly a big consumer of these conservative YouTube personalities and was sold on election fraud by listening to them.

President Yoon is so unpopular in South Korea I doubt these boycotts by his supporters will have any impact on sales:

Singer and actor IU promotes New Balance’s apparel in this undated photo. Courtesy of E-Land

Political disputes about President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment over his botched martial law declaration have had unexpected impacts on brands endorsed by IU and other celebrities, who supported protests against him, as well as on companies related to his allies.

On Friday, IU’s agency announced that the singer prepaid for food and hand warmers for her fans participating in a candlelight protest for Yoon’s impeachment near the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. After the announcement, Yoon’s supporters began to encourage the boycott of companies who hired her as a spokesmodel, sharing the list of brands.

On the list were New Balance, HiteJinro and Woori Bank.

Although her endorsement agreements with water brand Jeju Samdasoo and Domino’s Pizza have already ended, the names of the brands were also on the list shared by pro-Yoon consumers.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like most of President Yoon’s cabinet had no idea about the martial law decree and he called them into a meeting that night just to consolidate them before declaring it:

A brief, five-minute Cabinet meeting took place between 10:17 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. in the presidential reception room, apparently without due process or any official record, according to data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety submitted by the presidential office.

Yoon, who came into the meeting but did not even sit down, abruptly left the meeting. At 10:23 p.m., he began reading his statement — without the presence of Cabinet members or reporters. The live televised address culminated in the declaration of martial law at around 10:28 p.m.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-Kyung vividly recounted that some of those present at the five-minute Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3 were completely blindsided, leaving them powerless to intervene or stop him from making it public.

“(The president) briefly entered the room and then left. After he left, those who were seated were taken aback and asked, ‘Where did he go?’ At that moment, someone played a broadcast on their phone, and his voice came through. That’s what happened,” Song said during the Dec. 11 plenary session of the Assembly, recalling that the Cabinet meeting never formally concluded — there was no declaration signaling its end.

“It wasn’t even possible to grab hold of him or physically intervene in any way. I am truly sorry for this.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Another ROK Army senior leader has now been arrested:

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, who served as the chief commander during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law, was arrested Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Park was arrested with a court-issued warrant on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection and abuse of power.

Park became the fifth key figure who was arrested over Yoon’s Dec. 3 failed bid to impose martial law. 

So far, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung, head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, head of the Army Special Warfare Command, and Lt. Gen. Lee Jin-woo, head of the Capital Defense Command, have been arrested.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like President Yoon’s days in office are coming to an end very soon now since he is now losign support from within his political party:

The leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday threw his support behind a parliamentary vote to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed bid to impose martial law, while calling for convening an ethics committee to discuss whether to demand Yoon leave the party. 

PPP leader Han Dong-hoon made the call after Yoon defended the Dec. 3 martial law declaration as an act of governance and rejected insurrection charges against him in a public address. 

“The president’s duties must be swiftly straightened out and suspended through the impeachment process,” Han told reporters at the National Assembly in western Seoul. “Our party must support impeachment as the party line.”

Han said it has become “more clear” that Yoon is unable to carry out his duties as president, adding that his address came as a surprise.

The main opposition Democratic Party is set to file a new motion to impeach Yoon later in the day, after a parliamentary impeachment vote failed Saturday as the majority of PPP lawmakers boycotted it.

Earlier in the day, Han voiced support for Yoon’s impeachment, calling on lawmakers to vote on the next impeachment motion based on their own “conviction.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Whether the decree was legal or not, I believe declaring martial law sets a dangerous precedent that a future left wing President could use to get their way as well:

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday defended his botched martial law declaration as an act of governance and denied insurrection charges facing him, while vowing to fight until the last moment against whether it is impeachment or a martial law probe.

In a televised public address, Yoon said sending troops to the National Assembly during martial law can’t amount to insurrection, while defying calls to step down.

Yoon said he used his presidential power to declare martial law “to protect the nation and normalize state affairs” against the opposition that paralyzed the government, calling it a “highly calibrated political judgment.”

“Whether I am impeached or investigated, I will fairly confront it,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.