1,605 soldiers, 3,709 police officers mobilized during 6-hour martial law fiasco

President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) appears at his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Jan. 23. (Pool photo via Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) appears at his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Jan. 23. (Pool photo via Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol allegedly ordered Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to cut off water and electricity to several media outlets and a polling company when he imposed martial law on Dec. 3, according to the prosecution's indictment and testimony at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Heo Seok-gon, who leads the National Fire Agency, confirmed during an Assembly hearing Tuesday that Interior Minister Lee Sang-min called him at 11:37 p.m. on Dec. 3, and asked him to cooperate with a police request to cut off power and water to those places at midnight.

"I had a call (with Lee)," Heo said, in answer to questions by Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party.

"I remember (receiving Lee's order). ... I truthfully testified based on what I recount," he added.

The indictment submitted to the Assembly alleges that Yoon ordered Lee, who has since been impeached, to send police to seal off the Kyunghyang Shinmun and Hankyoreh newspapers, broadcasters MBC and JTBC and polling agency Flower Research. The four media outlets mentioned have all been critical of Yoon.

Lee received Yoon's order before the president declared martial law, the indictment said.

Lee, whose responsibilities as minister included overseeing police and fire authorities, allegedly told Heo to comply with the police request to shut off the utility services at around midnight. He also phoned Cho Ji-ho, the national police chief, concerning the plan, according to the indictment.

Lee, who is now undergoing a police investigation for his alleged involvement in insurrection, refused to testify at a parliamentary hearing Tuesday.

Yoon has long denied that his martial law was meant to paralyze South Korea's democracy, insisting that it was designed to "inform the public of this disastrous crisis" and to hold opposition parties accountable for creating it.

"The measures to cut power and water to the National Assembly building would have been taken, and broadcasting would have also been restricted. However, none of these measures were taken," Yoon said in a speech on Dec. 12, just before the National Assembly-led impeachment, in attempting to mount a defense of his actions.

The indictment also indicated that Yoon and the then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun moved to declare martial law despite opposition from Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul. Choi, who is now acting president of South Korea, then said his martial law declaration would deal a severe blow to South Korea's economy and creditworthiness, the indictment showed.

Moreover, the meeting of Cabinet members just before Yoon's martial law declaration is also alleged to have had significant flaws.

A meeting of 11 members of the Cabinet — meeting the quorum for a Cabinet meeting — lasted just five minutes, according to the indictment.

Yoon allegedly told them, "The ministers' view toward a situation and the responsibility that they bear are different from those of the president. I've made this decision and I take responsibility. Any change of plan will ruin everything."

Although Yoon then told the Cabinet that the agenda to impose martial law gained approval, the prosecution claimed that the agenda was not formally proposed. No formal document was created for Yoon's martial law and then-Defense Minister Kim went around Prime Minister Han to advise Yoon to declare martial law, all of which could constitute violations of the Constitution.

A total of 1,605 soldiers and 3,709 police officers were mobilized during Yoon's six-hour martial law declaration to arrest politicians and officials of election authorities, prevent the opposition-led parliament from nullifying Yoon's martial law declaration and cut utilities to media organizations, among other efforts, according to the indictment.

The prosecution's criminal indictment of the president was based on the probe led by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. The indictment of the sitting president means he could remain in detention until July, as the Criminal Procedure Act limits a defendant’s pretrial detention to a maximum of six months. He has been behind bars since Jan. 15.