Defending President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law declaration early this month, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said Yoon had ordered the deletion of a civilian curfew from the first draft of the martial law decree, claiming that the first draft of the decree was written by Kim himself.
The president's intention in declaring martial law was to give a "wake-up call" to the National Assembly, not the Korean people, Kim said via his lawyers on Thursday.
“But the president said that the imposition of martial law was to warn the Assembly," Kim was quoted as saying by a legal representative, Yoo Seung-soo. "The president stressed that martial law did not target ordinary civilians, and ordered the curfew clause to be deleted.”
The lawyer argued that martial law was declared as a warning to the National Assembly for paralyzing state affairs, as he insisted on the president’s exclusive authority to declare martial law.
“Article 77 of the Constitution stipulates that the president may proclaim martial law when it is required to cope with a military necessity or to maintain public safety under the conditions as prescribed by the act. The president’s action is within the realm of executive authority, which is not subject to judicial review,” Rhee Ha-sang, another legal representative for the former defense minister, told reporters.
Rhee contended that the imposition of martial law was to combat "anti-state forces" and criminal groups in order to protect the freedom of the Republic of Korea and hand it down to future generations, emphasizing that the measures were constitutional and justified.
The lawyer explained that the president was fully aware of the chain of command, with martial law troops receiving orders from Kim, who was the defense minister at the time.
“Additional phone calls giving orders to individual commanders would cause confusion. The president did not issue any additional instructions, according to Kim,” Rhee said, denying allegations that Yoon ordered Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun and Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho to “pull out” lawmakers from the National Assembly after declaring martial law.
Rhee said that the martial law declaration should not be interpreted as an attempt to incite an insurrection, and that the former minister was merely assisting the president, as the ministry is responsible for preparing necessary measures when martial law is declared.
Meanwhile, a small commotion occurred prior to the press conference as Kim's legal team attempted to exclude some local media outlets from attending.
The legal team explained that it refused to accept some journalists they claimed had falsely reported the "insurrection" as fact while the charge is still being investigated by the authorities.
The Korea Broadcasting Journalist Association, the National Union of Media Workers and the Journalist Association of Korea in a joint statement urged all media outlets to refuse to report on the legal team's press conference so as not to become the "mouthpieces of criminals."
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