[Lee Kyong-hee] Suspend reality: Yoon's last stand

Korea Herald

23-02-2025

Atop his desk, President Yoon Suk Yeol had a sign that read, 'The buck stops here.' It is a replica of the desk sign used by Harry S. Truman, the US president during the Korean War. Yoon often was photographed explaining the sign to guests, but after his botched attempt to impose martial law and subsequent impeachment, he clearly did not adhere to those four words.
The last Constitutional Court hearing on Yoon's impeachment is scheduled for tomorrow. So far, the impeachment trial tracks the plot of a tragicomedy. Gloom and anger shroud the proceeding, but Yoon is mounting a defense that is so thin it is laughable. In a nutshell, Yoon wants us to believe that our reaction to his declaration of martial law in December is unwarranted because it was simply a political maneuver.
'Why is all this fuss? You know nothing happened,' Yoon insisted, accusing the witnesses of testifying to events surrounding his martial law decree. 'I feel as if all this is like chasing the shadow of the moon on a lake,' he said, even borrowing a poetic phrase.
Yoon has argued that he intended his late-night surprise action to be a warning to the 'anti-state' opposition forces abusing their majority power to impede his policy agenda. He said he was ready to respect the National Assembly's vote to revoke martial law, which was why he lifted his order in just several hours. To believe Yoon's argument, the nation would need to apologize to him for being gullible: Sorry. We thought you were serious!
Everybody knows Yoon is spinning an alternate reality like a sci-fi writer, trying to pass the buck to everyone else. Last December, gripped in dread and disbelief, we were glued to real-time broadcasts of soldiers and police officers blocking legislators from entering the National Assembly and casting votes to overturn the martial law decree. Was that nothing but part of your pretend plan, Mr. President?
At least three witnesses remained consistent in testifying that they personally received orders from Yoon over the phone that night. The orders were to 'drag out' lawmakers from the National Assembly main chamber by all possible means, which included breaking doors and turning off utilities, or to arrest key political figures. They are Kwak Jong-geun, commander of the Army Special Warfare Command; Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service; and Cho Ji-ho, commissioner-general of the National Police Agency. They are now either arrested on charges of being involved in an insurrection or fired for violating regulations against political activity.
Yoon has adamantly denied having given such orders. He claims that these individuals misunderstood his instructions to 'maintain order at the National Assembly' or 'assist the military intelligence in rounding up communist spies.' Nonetheless, testimonies by field commanders at separate investigations and National Assembly hearings align with those of these witnesses, starkly contradicting Yoon's assertions.
Yoon has also accused witnesses of conspiring with opposition lawmakers to fabricate insurrection charges against him. This attempt to deflect responsibility places numerous people, in uniform or not, at the risk of facing criminal accusations, let alone destroying their careers.
The Constitutional Court has months to decide the case, but a ruling is likely in just weeks. It is expected to uphold Yoon's impeachment to formally remove him from office with a unanimous vote of all the eight judges. In the 10 hearings so far, all the essential charges against Yoon have been sufficiently established: He violated the Constitution by circumventing legal processes to declare a state of national emergency justifying his martial law decree, misusing military force and attempting to disband the legislature.
In his final statement tomorrow, Yoon would do well to do what he has not done yet: offering a heartfelt apology for his grave misjudgment in opting for martial law as a political breakthrough, seriously undermining democracy and national prestige, and consequently jeopardizing the livelihoods of many people. It would be yet another fatal mistake if he attempts to rally his supporters to push them further into radical riots.
Yoon faces his criminal trial on insurrection charges, which can lead him to life in prison or capital punishment. Scores, or probably hundreds, of military and civilian personnel will also undergo trials for cooperating in his ill-conceived action willingly or unwillingly.
At the same time, Yoon's scandal-ridden wife, Kim Keon-hee, will likely become embroiled in the proceedings as well. There has been rampant speculation that Yoon's abrupt martial law declaration was aimed at preventing a special counsel investigation into his wife's alleged wrongdoings. The speculation is backed by the testimony of Kim Bong-sik, commissioner-general of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, at a Constitutional Court hearing. He said that Yoon hinted at his 'family situation' as a reason for imposing martial law.
The scars incurred from the moral impudence and political incompetence of a former prosecutor and his power-hungry wife will remain a lofty challenge for the nation to overcome. It will finally be a moment of truth to probe into what is wrong with our politics and politicians, as well as our prosecutorial system, charting the future course of our wounded democracy.