South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol had authorised the military to fire their weapons if they needed to enter parliament during his failed bid to impose martial law, according to a prosecutors’ report.
The 10-page summary from former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun’s prosecution indictment report, which was provided to the media, also said Mr Yoon vowed on December 3 to declare martial law three times if necessary.
Mr Yoon, who was stripped of his duties by the National Assembly earlier this month, is under investigation for his short-lived attempt to scrap civilian rule.
His shock martial law declaration plunged the country into political turmoil and led to his impeachment.
‘Drag them out, even if it means shooting’
Mr Yoon’s lawyer Yoon Kab-keun dismissed the prosecutors’ report and said it was “a one-sided account that neither corresponds to objective circumstances nor common sense”.
As politicians rushed to parliament on December 3 to vote down Mr Yoon’s martial law declaration, heavily armed troops stormed the building.
According to the report, Mr Yoon told the Capital Defense Command chief, Lieutenant General Lee Jin-woo, that military forces could shoot if necessary to enter the National Assembly.
“Have you still not got in? What are you doing? Break down the door and drag them out, even if it means shooting,” Mr Yoon told the lieutenant general, according to the report.
Mr Yoon also allegedly told the head of the Defense Counter Intelligence Command, General Kwak Jong-keun, to “quickly get inside” the National Assembly since the quorum for the martial law declaration to be lifted had not been met.
“So quickly get inside the National Assembly and bring out the people inside the chamber, and break down the doors with an axe if necessary and drag everyone out,” Mr Yoon said, according to the report.
Discussions around martial law
After politicians rushed inside parliament and voted 190 to zero to nullify Mr Yoon’s declaration, the report said Mr Yoon told the Capital Defense Command chief “even if it’s lifted” he could still “declare martial law a second or third time, so just keep going”.
The report also included screenshots of senior defence officials’ messages from the day of the martial law declaration.
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It said there was evidence showing Mr Yoon had been discussing declaring martial law with senior military officials as early as March.
The declaration followed a budget tussle between Mr Yoon’s party and the opposition.
Mr Yoon apologised for the “anxiety and inconvenience” days after the failed attempt and promised that there would not be a second declaration of martial law.
The former Capital Defense Command chief was arrested this month over his role in the failed martial law bid.
Opposition Democratic Party politician Kang Sun-woo said in a statement on Saturday that the prosecution had “laid bare the undeniable ugly truth about Mr Yoon Suk Yeol, calling for the immediate arrest of “the treasonous ringleader”.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court held its first preliminary hearing on the validity of Mr Yoon’s impeachment on Friday, with the suspended president’s legal team attending.
The court will also decide the fate of Mr Yoon’s replacement, Han Duck-soo, who was impeached on Friday over his refusal to complete Mr Yoon’s impeachment process and bring him to justice.

—–AFP