By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-12 07:21:47 | Updated at 2024-12-12 10:44:10
3 hours ago
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law was not a spontaneous decision, but had been planned for months following his ruling conservative party’s electoral defeat in April, according to participants in the attempted self-coup.
Commander Yeo In-hyung of the Defence Counter-intelligence Command told prosecutors investigating the incident on Wednesday that Yoon frequently mentioned “martial law” in private conversations throughout the summer after the ruling People Power Party (PPP) secured only 108 of 300 seats in the National Assembly.
The result left opposition parties just eight seats shy of the two-thirds majority required to initiate impeachment proceedings.
“I thought the president was talking about martial law as an angry reaction to the political situation,” Yeo told prosecutors investigating the December 3 martial law incident.
However, he added, “The idea was not accompanied by any concrete plans on how to implement it.”
“I told him several times that it’s impossible,” Yeo said, explaining that martial law is reserved for extreme crises such as war.
