Particular counsel Cho Eun-seok speaks throughout a press briefing on the Seoul Excessive Prosecutors’ Workplace in Seocho District, Seoul, Monday, as he pronounces the ultimate outcomes of the investigation into former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial regulation case. Joint Press Corps
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol spent greater than a 12 months laying the groundwork for his martial regulation declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, with preparations starting as early as October 2023, a particular probe staff mentioned Monday.
He selected the timing of the declaration to reduce intervention by the U.S., because the nation can be present process a political transition after the presidential election, it mentioned.
The investigation staff led by particular counsel Cho Eun-seok introduced the ultimate outcomes of its probe into the martial regulation case, wrapping up its six-month investigation. Throughout that interval, investigators indicted 24 individuals, together with Yoon, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, former Cupboard members, senior army officers and political figures on expenses associated to riot and overseas interference.
The choice to declare martial regulation was not an incidental or improvised response to the primary opposition get together’s funds cuts and impeachment of presidency officers, which Yoon publicly claimed as his justification for declaring martial regulation. Reasonably, investigators discovered that he talked about martial regulation a number of occasions to his aides, starting shortly after his inauguration in Might 2022. Preparations started to accentuate round a sequence of army reshuffles in late 2023, in response to the staff.
“The core function was the consolidation and upkeep of energy,” Cho mentioned, including that the findings have been primarily based on seized notes, inside memos and testimony from people concerned within the planning course of.
The investigation concluded that Yoon and his associates deliberate to make use of the army to droop regular political actions and paralyze the Nationwide Meeting, changing it with an emergency legislative physique. By means of this mechanism, they meant to grab legislative and judicial authority and suppress opposition forces.
The preparations included personnel planning, operational discussions and repeated contact with senior commanders. The staff additionally mentioned that the relocation of the presidential workplace and residence to Yongsan District, which is nearer to key army services, helped to create the circumstances for nearer coordination between the president and the armed forces.
It mentioned discussions over the timing and implementation of martial regulation continued no matter political developments, together with the result of final 12 months’s common elections. The particular counsel mentioned the planning was internally framed as a response to what Yoon and his associates described as a nationwide disaster pushed by hostile political forces.
Cho’s staff mentioned the timing of the martial regulation declaration was meant to scale back the probability of overseas intervention, significantly by the U.S., then within the midst of a presidential transition from Joe Biden to Donald Trump.
The briefing included a memo from a Yoon affiliate that talked about “cooperation from the U.S.” and “prior discover to the U.S.” Senior Korean intelligence officers have been scheduled to journey to Washington the day after the declaration.
Particular counsel Cho Eun-seok pronounces the ultimate outcomes of a six-month investigation into former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial regulation declaration, throughout a press briefing on the Seoul Excessive Prosecutors’ Workplace in Seocho District, Seoul, Monday. A doc bearing the phrases “politicians arrest record” is proven. Joint Press Corps
Cho additionally addressed claims that Yoon meant to impress a safety disaster with North Korea to justify martial regulation, together with via strategies like sending drones with anti-Kim Jong-un leaflets to Pyongyang.
“Whereas there have been makes an attempt to create a state of affairs that would have been used to justify such measures, these efforts didn’t result in a army response from Pyongyang,” he mentioned.
The particular counsel mentioned that regardless of the rumors, there was no proof that former first woman Kim Keon Hee was concerned in planning or executing the imposition of martial regulation.
“We additionally discovered no proof to help claims of shamanistic or occult affect,” he mentioned.
The investigation additionally examined allegations involving the judiciary and prosecutors’ workplaces however concluded that there was no proof that senior judicial officers had participated in or coordinated actions associated to the declaration.
Cho emphasised that whereas the inquiry had established an in depth account of the preparation and intent behind the martial regulation imposition, the courts would make the ultimate determinations of guilt. He mentioned the particular counsel’s position was to current factual findings and produce authorized expenses primarily based on the proof collected.
Prosecutors concerned within the case will now flip to pursuing convictions in courtroom primarily based on the indictments filed.
