Ex-defense minister indicted on charges related to insurrection and abuse of authority
Published: 27 Dec. 2024, 18:08
Updated: 29 Dec. 2024, 14:12
![Ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun speaks during a parliamentary meeting at the National Assembly in western Seoul last month. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/12/29/07e66cfc-7bcc-446d-a085-ef6866c226e8.jpg)
Ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun speaks during a parliamentary meeting at the National Assembly in western Seoul last month. [YONHAP]
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was indicted on Friday, making him the first person set to face trial regarding the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The prosecution said Friday that Kim has been indicted and detained for his involvement in key activities related to insurrection and abuse of authority.
Kim is accused of being the individual who directly proposed the declaration of martial law to Yoon and of being involved in the deployment of military forces to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, as well as the operation of arrest squads targeting politicians on Dec. 3.
According to the arraignment of Kim submitted by the prosecution, Yoon ordered his subordinates to keep going after the martial law was lifted, saying, "I can just order them twice and three more times."
It states that Yoon also said to Kim there was "no choice but to use emergency power" in late March or early April, and discussed or explicitly planned for martial law at least nine times.
When Yoon asked Kim on Dec. 2 how the military would be deployed if martial law was declared, Kim said that 3,000 to 5,000 troops could be drawn from the Capital Defense Command and the Special Warfare Command, according to the arraignment.
A total of 4,749 troops were deployed on the night of the martial law.
Prosecutors state that Kim also told Yoon of a prewritten draft of the martial law decree in the same conversation and that Yoon told Kim to delete a part regarding a curfew from the decree.
They said that the night before the declaration of martial law, Yoon copyedited the decree, speech and proclamation and confirmed its contents.
Kim voluntarily appeared before prosecutors on Dec. 8, five days after the declaration of martial law, for questioning and was subsequently arrested and detained.
Kim's legal team held a press conference on Thursday and argued that the declaration of martial law is an inherent governing act of the president, denouncing the investigation as unlawful.
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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