South Korean prosecutors say Yoon authorised ‘shooting’ during martial law bid

SEOUL: South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol authorised the military to fire their weapons if needed to enter parliament during his failed bid to impose martial law, according to a prosecutors’ report seen by AFP on Saturday (Dec 28).

The 10-page summary from former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun’s prosecution indictment report, which was provided to the media, also says Yoon vowed on Dec 3 to declare martial law three times if necessary.

Yoon, who was stripped of his duties by the National Assembly this month, is under investigation for his short-lived attempt to scrap civilian rule, which plunged the country into political turmoil and led to his impeachment.

Yoon’s lawyer Yoon Kab-keun dismissed the prosecutors’ report, telling AFP it was “a one-sided account that neither corresponds to objective circumstances nor common sense”.

As lawmakers rushed to parliament on Dec 3 to vote down Yoon’s martial law declaration, heavily armed troops stormed the building, scaling fences, smashing windows and landing by helicopter.

According to the prosecution indictment report, Yoon told the chief of the capital defence command, Lee Jin-woo, that military forces could shoot if necessary to enter the National Assembly.

“Have you still not got in? What are you doing? Break down the door and drag them out, even if it means shooting,” Yoon told Lee, according to the report.

Yoon also allegedly told the head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, General Kwak Jong-keun, to “quickly get inside” the National Assembly since the quorum for the martial law declaration to be lifted had not been met.

“So quickly get inside the National Assembly and bring out the people inside the chamber, and break down the doors with an axe if necessary and drag everyone out,” the report quotes Yoon as saying at the time.

After lawmakers rushed inside parliament and voted 190-0 to nullify Yoon’s declaration in the early hours of Dec 4, the report says Yoon told Lee: “Even if it’s lifted, I can declare martial law a second or third time, so just keep going.”