South Korea –
President Yoon authorized the army to open fire on Parliament
A report from the public prosecutor’s office, consulted on Saturday by AFP, transcribes the words of the deposed president: “Break the door and get them out, even if it means shooting.”
Published today at 9:37 a.m.
Soldiers attempt to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law.
JUNG YEON-JE/AFP
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol authorized the army to open fire to enter Parliament in early December during his attempt to impose martial law for which he was impeached, indicates a prosecutor’s report consulted on Saturday by the AFP.
“Haven’t you come in yet? What are you doing? Break the door and take them out, even if it means shooting,” he said in a Dec. 3 phone call with Seoul military commander Lee Jin-woo, who was near Parliament, according to the prosecution.
He released to the media the indictment report of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, considered to be the person who pushed President Yoon to impose martial law.
It was proclaimed on December 3 to everyone’s surprise, while the president sent the army to Parliament in order to muzzle it, plunging the country into chaos.
After martial law was declared, heavily armed soldiers stormed Parliament, scaling barriers, smashing windows and some landing by helicopter.
According to the 10-page report, the president also ordered military counterintelligence chief Gen. Kwak Jong-keun to “promptly enter inside” Parliament.
“Get people out inside the assembly, destroy the doors with an ax if necessary,” he said, according to the prosecution, which adds that the president would have discussed martial law as early as March with senior military officials.
As lawmakers rushed to reject martial law at dawn on December 4, President Yoon told Mr. Lee that he would declare it “a second and third time.”
The president’s lawyer, Yoon Kab-keun, told AFP that this information from the prosecution was biased and corresponded “neither to objective facts nor to common sense.”
During a speech in December, Mr. Yoon said he was not considering a second attempt to proclaim martial law and apologized for the “anguish and inconvenience.”
Dismissed from office, he was investigated for “rebellion”, a crime punishable by death, and officially remained president while awaiting a ruling from the Constitutional Court, confirming or overturning the decision of the deputies.
The Corruption Investigation Bureau, which centralizes investigations, has already summoned the deposed president twice to question him about the events of the night of December 3 to 4, which stunned the country. But Mr. Yoon did not appear for any of these summonses.
Investigators sent him a third summons on Thursday for a hearing on Sunday morning.
On Friday, interim President Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was also impeached, with lawmakers accusing him of trying to obstruct the investigation into his predecessor’s coup.
The new interim head of state, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, promised to “put an end to the government crisis”, making it his “absolute priority”.
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