Yoon ignored objections from own Cabinet on Dec. 3, ministers tell lawmakers

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Yoon ignored objections from own Cabinet on Dec. 3, ministers tell lawmakers

Published: 12 Dec. 2024, 18:17 Updated: 12 Dec. 2024, 18:40

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Cabinet members bow their heads in apology at a plenary legislative session addressing President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law last week at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol ignored objections from members of his own Cabinet on the night he declared martial law, multiple ministers claimed in a recent National Assembly hearing.

Some said they went so far as to try and prevent Yoon from heading to the presidential office's briefing room, where he announced his martial law decree on Dec. 3.

While their individual claims are yet to be verified, the extent to which ministers expressed prior opposition to Yoon’s plan to declare martial law could influence the course of multiple ongoing investigations against members of his administration.

Ministers who attended a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday told lawmakers that Yoon attended the Dec. 3 Cabinet meeting only to express his intent to declare martial law and was present for less than three minutes.

According to ministers, none of the usual procedures that precede and conclude a Cabinet meeting were observed that night.

Although Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told lawmakers that almost all who were present for the meeting expressed some opposition or concerns regarding the president’s plan, only two ministers — Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul — raised their hands when Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Lee So-young asked who explicitly told Yoon they were against declaring martial law.

According to multiple high-ranking sources who spoke on condition of anonymity to the JoongAng Ilbo, Cho “repeatedly implored” Yoon to reconsider, warning him that declaring martial law “would not only negatively impact foreign policy, but also risk all of the country’s achievements over the past 70 years.”

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, left, and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, right, head into a press conference at the Central Government Complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Sunday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The same sources said that Cho followed Yoon even after he left the room, telling him that martial law was “out of the question.”

However, president allegedly continued to ignore his foreign minister’s advice and headed to the briefing room, where he declared martial law.

Likewise, Justice Minister Park Sung-jae told the parliamentary Legislative and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he recalled “no one expressing support for declaring martial law,” adding that “various concerns and opinions were relayed” to the president at the Cabinet meeting.

However, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong admitted that he found himself “unable to tell the president that it was wrong” to impose martial law, adding that he did not “think far enough ahead to imagine how the order to medical students to return to work might be implemented.”

Yoon’s martial law decree also ordered all medical students on strike since February to return to hospitals or face arrest.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong, bottom right, answers lawmakers' questions about President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

According to Korean law, the degree to which individual ministers can be held accountable for Yoon’s decree depends largely on how willingly they acquiesced to his plan.

Under Article 87 of the Criminal Act, an individual who follows the lead of another in committing a crime can be sentenced to a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Three members of Yoon’s Cabinet — Han, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min — have thus far been accused by various investigative authorities of committing treason for their alleged roles in Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law.

BY YOO JEE-HYE, SHIM SEOK-YONG AND MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]