Then-President Yoon Suk-yeol (proper) and then-Protection Minister Kim Yong-hyun applaud throughout a navy parade for Armed Forces Day on Oct. 1, 2024. Each have now been charged with treason, on high of standing trial on expenses of rebellion. (Kim Tae-hyeong/Hankyoreh)
New particulars have emerged about former Protection Minister Kim Yong-hyun repeatedly pressuring the Joint Chiefs of Employees and others to conduct strikes towards the supply of North Korean trash balloons and fireplace warning pictures in October 2024. Such insistence appears to have stemmed from Kim’s frustration that an operation to fly drones over Pyongyang did not elicit a response that may justify the declaration of martial legislation.
Additional particulars seem to indicate that former President Yoon Suk-yeol alluded to martial legislation as early as six months into workplace by referring to the president’s emergency government authority and stating, “I don’t care if I get shot to loss of life, I’ll ensure to carry all of it down.”
Particular counsel Cho Eun-seok and his crew of investigators have concluded that the varied political woes that plagued Yoon beginning within the latter half of 2023 prompted the previous president to contemplate declaring martial legislation.
The written indictment of Yoon, Kim and others on expenses of treason by benefiting an enemy filed by the particular counsel crew, reviewed by the Hankyoreh on Wednesday, claims that the related events deemed the Pyongyang drone infiltration operation inadequate to create a state of affairs warranting the declaration of martial legislation, main them to try to take warning pictures and strikes towards the supply of the trash-filled balloons that North Korea had floated throughout the border all through the summer season and into fall of 2024.
Investigations revealed that on Oct. 27, 2024, Kim instructed Kang Ho-pil, the chief of the ROK Military’s Floor Operations Command on the time, to fireplace warning pictures, saying, “I’ve mentioned this with the president. Round 6,000 trash balloons have fallen into our territory, and North Korean leaflets even made it to the location the place we have been holding the occasion for the Polish president. The president agrees that North Korea has crossed the road.”
When Kang expressed his reservations, Kim reprimanded him for being a “damned scaredy-cat.”
The navy was ready to strike underneath Kim’s orders, however opposition from the Joint Chiefs of Employees and Yoon’s absence as a consequence of an abroad journey meant the operation was by no means carried out.
After North Korea floated extra trash balloons throughout the border round midnight on Nov. 18, Kim marched to the Joint Chiefs’ fight management room at 1:30 am. That afternoon, Kim summoned Lee Seung-oh, the chief of operations on the Joint Chiefs headquarters on the time, and reportedly knowledgeable him that, after Yoon got here again from his abroad tour, the navy would conduct strikes if extra refuse-filled balloons have been floated upon the president’s return.
He additionally informed Lee, “If North Korea continues to ship trash balloons, suggest hanging the supply of the balloons with out assessing potential collateral damages or conducting quantitative or qualitative evaluations,” in response to the indictment.
Kim then referred to as Kang, explaining, “After informing the president of the state of affairs, he informed me that it was vital to ‘tactfully handle the state of affairs so it doesn’t escalate,’ as he was presently abroad, which made it unimaginable for me to present the order to strike.” This means that Kim was consulting intently with Yoon relating to operations akin to hanging the supply of the trash balloons, which might have evoked a robust response from North Korea.
The previous protection minister reportedly misplaced his mood on the Joint Chiefs for opposing the operation to strike North Korea on the supply of the balloons. When Kim Myung-soo, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the time, and Lee sought an viewers with Kim Yong-hyun on Nov. 22 to precise their opposition to such strikes, the protection minister slammed his hand towards the desk whereas lashing out on the former chairperson, the prosecutors wrote within the indictment. When Kim Myung-soo refused to bow down, Kim Yong-hyun appeared to desert the concept, albeit begrudgingly.
Nevertheless, as North Korea floated extra trash balloons southwards on Nov. 28, Kim Yong-hyun ordered the Joint Chiefs to present a report on the plan to strike the supply of the trash balloons. To stop the minister from making a rash, unilateral resolution, Kim Myung-soo and Lee ready an in depth report specifying implementation procedures that required prior notification to the Ministry of Nationwide Protection, the Joint Chiefs, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Workplace of Nationwide Safety and the Nationwide Meeting.
The particular counsel crew believes that making an attempt to strike the supply of the trash balloons not solely violated the Armistice Settlement but in addition failed to satisfy the necessities for exercising the precise of self-defense. It additionally presents proof that the try bypassed session with the standing committee of the Nationwide Safety Council.
The indictment additionally included particulars of Yoon hinting at a potential declaration of martial legislation, as early as November 2022 — six months into workplace — by making a reference to “emergency government authority.”
The particular counsel crew wrote in its indictment that, throughout a banquet for Folks Energy Celebration management in November 2022, Yoon remarked, “I’ve emergency government authority. I’ll raze every part to the bottom. I don’t care if I get shot to loss of life, I’ll ensure to carry all of it down,” to Kim Chong-hyuk, a former member of the PPP’s interim management committee, and others. The Yoon administration had struggled with an opposition-ruled legislature since its inauguration, resulting in extended partisan clashes.
The particular counsel crew reached the conclusion that the martial legislation declaration was an try to show the luck of the Yoon administration round after Yoon’s approval score languished within the 30% vary following varied scandals and political defeats: the cover-up of an investigation into the loss of life of a Marine corporal in August 2023, the PPP’s loss within the by-election for the pinnacle of Seoul’s Gangseo District in October 2023, the graft suspicions towards former first girl Kim Keon-hee in November 2023 and Busan’s failure to win the bid to host the 2023 World Expo in November 2023.
By Kim Ji-eun, workers reporter; Kang Jae-gu, workers reporter
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