Seoul: South Korea’s Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Tuesday apologised over the military’s involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law bid last December.
Ahn issued the apology in a Facebook post just a day before the first anniversary, as the now-ousted Yoon imposed the short-lived martial law on December 3. At that time, the defence ministry was under the helm of his predecessor, Kim Yong-hyun, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“I formally apologise on behalf of the military for endangering the people, leaving a deep wound on the majority of innocent service members, and for committing the grave crime of trespassing on the National Assembly and the National Election Commission,” Ahn wrote.
Ahn said upon his appointment as the first civilian defence minister in 64 years that he promised to rebuild the military into one for the people and break from a past in which the military was “wasted as a tool for emergency martial law.”
“I have made every effort from the beginning, believing that each step we take will serve as a historic milestone in ending the insurrection and establishing civilian control,” he added.
Military and police forces were deployed to the National Assembly on the night of the martial law imposition to prevent lawmakers from voting down the decree.
Top Generals appointed by Yoon, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, who served as the martial law commander and former head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command, Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung, are currently under trial for playing a key role in the insurrection.
On Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that unresolved “acts of insurrection” tied to last year’s martial law bid must be fully addressed to prevent its recurrence ahead of the first anniversary of the martial law attempt.
Lee made the remark on X as he posted a news article suggesting that South Korean troops had sent leaflets toward North Korea first before the North released its own.
“We were on the brink of war, and it was the people of the great Republic of Korea who prevented it,” Lee said.
“(They) attempted to start a war under the pretext of martial law, going so far as ordering troops to send the balloons toward the North,” he said, warning that if such acts of insurrection are left unaddressed they will “inevitably resurface someday.”
(IANS)
