SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s ousted conservative President Yun Seok-yeol planned to impose martial law for more than a year to eliminate his political opponents and monopolize power, investigators concluded Monday.
The martial law imposed by Yin in December 2024 lasted only a few hours, leading to his rapid ouster.
Announcing the findings of the six-month investigation, independent counsel Cho Eun-sook also accused the former president and his military allies of deliberately stoking tensions by ordering actions against North Korea and defending his plan to declare martial law.
Although there was no serious response from North Korea, Zhao said Yun declared martial law, calling the liberal-controlled legislative body “anti-national forces” that must be urgently removed.
There was no immediate reaction from Yin, who is jailed and on trial on high-risk rebellion charges. Yoon has steadfastly insisted that his martial law order was a desperate attempt to attract public support in his fight against the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which has blocked his agenda.
Meanwhile, police raided the Unification Church headquarters on Monday to investigate separate bribery allegations against more politicians. An independent investigation involving Yin’s wife and the church has been underway for months.
Deliberately provoking North Korea
Zhao said Yin and his military associates had been planning to impose martial law since before October 2023, shuffling senior military officials and placing his associates in key positions while ousting a defense minister who opposed their plans. Zhao said they held the dinner to bring their martial law plans to the attention of military leaders.
Cho said Yoon, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Yeo In-hyung, then commander of the military’s counterintelligence agency, carefully planned various military operations against North Korea starting in October 2024. Zhao’s deputy had earlier accused Yun of ordering drone flights over North Korea, with Yun arguing that he was not informed of the incident.
The lead investigator said North Korea was unlikely to retaliate because it was focused on supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, so Yoon lacked the legal basis to impose military rule but acted in the name of quickly “eliminating anti-state forces.”
“Yin Seok-yeol… tried to declare martial law by inciting North Korea’s military provocation, but the plan failed,” Cho said. “Yin declared emergency martial law to monopolize and maintain power by controlling the legislative and judicial branches and eliminating political opponents.”
In a case that showed the seriousness of Yoon’s hostility toward opponents, Cho said Yoon called Han Dong-hoon, a chief rival of the ruling People’s Power Party, a “communist” and said “I will shoot him” during a meeting with military generals.
Han and Yoon feuded over a scandal involving the former president’s wife.
Yin’s martial law
After Yin declared martial law in 2024, hundreds of soldiers surrounded the Capitol and entered the Election Commission office. Thousands of people flocked to the National Assembly at that time to protest the decree and demand that Yoon step down. Lawmakers entered the building and voted to reject Yoon’s order, subsequently impeaching him.
The Constitutional Court ruled in April that Yoon should step down.
Democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung became South Korea’s new president through snap elections in June and appointed three independent prosecutors to investigate Yoon’s martial law and other allegations against him, his wife and other associates.
Cho said Yoon and 23 others, including his top officials, including Defense Minister Kim, Prime Minister Han Deok-su and Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, were indicted over Yoon’s martial law order. Some military generals were also arrested and prosecuted by military prosecutors.
Unification Church Scandal
Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, was arrested and indicted on separate charges unrelated to her husband’s martial law, including that she sought business favors by accepting bribes from Unification Church officials through intermediaries.
Police said they raided multiple facilities linked to the Unification Church, including its headquarters in Seoul and a sprawling complex in nearby Gapyeong, following allegations that the religious group provided money and gifts to a wider range of politicians, including members of the Democratic Party, than previously thought. Police also searched a detention center where the church’s 82-year-old leader, Hak Ja Han, has been held since September.
The police also searched the residence and office of Jeon Jae-soo, Lee Myung-bak’s former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, as well as the residences of former Democratic Party lawmaker Lim Jong-sung and former People’s Party lawmaker Kim Kyu-hwan, suspecting that they had accepted bribes from the church.
Jun denied accusations that he took bribes from the church but resigned as pastor last week, saying he did not want to burden Lee Myung-bak’s government. Lee called for a thorough investigation into allegations of inappropriate relationships between politicians and religious groups at a conference last week, without naming the Unification Church.
