Yoon ordered left-leaning newspapers' power cut during martial law, prosecutors say

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Yoon ordered left-leaning newspapers' power cut during martial law, prosecutors say

President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court of Korea in Seoul on Jan. 23 regarding his short-lived imposition of martial law in December. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court of Korea in Seoul on Jan. 23 regarding his short-lived imposition of martial law in December. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

 
Prosecutors filed an indictment against President Yoon Suk Yeol in which they alleged that he'd directed officials to cut off the supply of electricity and water to liberal news organizations that had criticized his administration. 
 
The prosecution's special investigation headquarters wrote that the president, who has been charged with leading an insurrection following his botched imposition of martial law, directed then-Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min to halt power and water services to five organizations in order to instigate a “media blackout” around the time martial law was declared at 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 in an indictment filed to the National Assembly. Democratic Party Rep. Kim Yong-min revealed the 101-page document on Monday.
 

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The targets reportedly included broadcasters JTBC, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, and MBC, as well as left-leaning newspapers the Kyunghyang Sinmun and Hankyoreh and polling agency Flower Research.
 
Following the directive, Lee contacted National Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho at 11:34 p.m. to check on the police response.
 
Three minutes later, he called National Fire Agency Commissioner Heo Seok-gon, instructing him to cooperate with the police in cutting off utilities to the targeted media outlets if requested, the indictment said.
 
Heo had previously confirmed that he'd received such communication during a parliamentary hearing on Jan. 13 but explained that no action was taken.
 
Yoon’s martial law decree, which was lifted within hours, declared all media and publishing to be under the control of the Martial Law Command. 

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]
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