Seoul: Indicted over charges of leading an insurrection in December, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his decision to declare martial law in a meeting with his legal representatives on Tuesday.
Seok Dong-hyeon, one of Yoon’s lawyers, told reporters that Yoon wondered aloud how his decision to impose martial law on December 3 could be considered an act of insurrection when “everything was done within the boundaries of the Constitution.”
Seok and other lawyers met with Yoon at the Seoul Detention Centre on Tuesday, two days after Yoon became the first sitting South Korean president to be indicted under detention.
Yoon is accused of conspiring with former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others to incite an insurrection on December 3 by declaring an unconstitutional and illegal state of emergency, despite the absence of any signs of war, armed conflict or a comparable national crisis.
Yoon is also alleged to have sent military troops to the National Assembly in order to keep lawmakers from voting down the martial law declaration and to have planned to arrest key political figures.
According to Seok, Yoon said he exercised his constitutional rights to declare martial law to inform the people of the crisis that the nation was facing, with the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) having taken over parliament.
Yoon also noted that he immediately lifted the martial law once the National Assembly voted down his declaration.
Yoon told his lawyers that his action could not constitute an act of insurrection because there had not been any bloodshed or casualties, nor had there been any arrest of politicians, Yonhap news agency reported.
Seok said Yoon claimed that he had never intended to maintain martial law for an extended stretch of time because he had not prepared any manual on how to run the administrative and judicial branches in such a state, and because he had fully expected the National Assembly to promptly vote it down.
“He didn’t say anything particular about spending the Lunar New Year holiday inside the detention center or about the situation he is in as the sitting president,” Seok said. “But I could tell from his looks that a lot of things were going through his mind.”
Seok added Yoon voiced his concerns about the future of South Korea.
“He said he was worried about many people struggling to make ends meet in these cold conditions,” Seok relayed. “He was also concerned that young people who should be dreaming big dreams may grow frustrated and disenchanted with reality.”
Seok noted that first lady Kim Keon Hee has been experiencing health problems of late. Yoon, who hasn’t seen his wife since being detained on Jan. 15, was worried about Kim’s condition, Seok said.
The DP fired shots at Yoon for worrying about the state of the nation when he himself had caused problems.
“He incited an insurrection and shook our constitutional order at its core. He has also destroyed our economy,” Cho Seung-rae, the DP’s senior spokesperson, said. “And he has the temerity to say he’s worried about the future of the country. This is quite chilling.
“How could someone so concerned about the country deploy military forces to start an insurrection and incite his supporters?” Cho continued. “He has still not yet admitted to his wrongdoing in the face of legal judgment. There seems to be no end to his shamelessness.”
On Kim’s apparent health issues, Cho said Yoon “should forget about trying to make people feel sympathetic.”
“People will only remember Kim and Yoon as a couple tainted with all sorts of corruption allegations,” the spokesperson said. “If Yoon is worried about the country at all, he should stop trying to pull tricks to delay the legal process.”
(IANS)
