Military unit prepared for Yoon's martial law plan in first half of 2024: special counsel

A special counsel team investigating former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration said Monday it has found evidence suggesting the military's Defense Counterintelligence Command was preparing for martial law operations as early as the first half of 2024.

"Through a separate investigation into Defense Counterintelligence Command officials, we detected signs that the command had been preparing for martial law since the first half of 2024," assistant special counsel Kim Ji-mi said during a press briefing.

The finding adds another layer to the investigation into how Yoon and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun allegedly mobilized the military in the lead-up to the declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.

The latest finding follows an earlier conclusion by the special counsel that Yoon's alleged preparations for martial law began before October 2023.

That timeline directly challenges Yoon's claim that he declared martial law in response to what he called "legislative dictatorship" by the then-opposition Democratic Party of Korea following its landslide victory in the April 2024 general election.

After securing a majority in the National Assembly, the Democratic Party pushed to impeach a number of officials appointed by Yoon and cut the administration's budget — moves Yoon cited as grounds for declaring martial law.

But the special counsel argued that Yoon had discussed the president's "emergency powers" during a dinner with ruling party officials in 2022. It also said it had secured testimony from a former senior intelligence official who claimed to have heard, as early as July or August 2022, that Yoon was planning martial law after the general election.

Yoon's presidency started in May 2022.

The team also pointed to later military personnel appointments. Former Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung and former Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, both of whom allegedly played key roles in the martial law operation, were appointed to major posts.

The special counsel said those appointments matched notes found in a notebook belonging to Noh Sang-won, a former military intelligence commander accused of being one of the architects of the martial law plan.

Based on these findings, the special counsel concluded that Yoon declared martial law to eliminate political opponents by force and maintain his hold on power.

The Seoul Central District Court, however, said in a February ruling that Yoon appeared to have resolved to declare martial law only two days before the decree was issued.

The court did not accept the special counsel's claim that Yoon had been planning martial law since before October 2023.

"Although it is difficult to determine exactly when Yoon Suk Yeol made up his mind, it appears that his decision had been expressed externally by around Dec. 1, 2024, at the latest," the court said in its ruling.

The court also said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Yoon's meetings with senior military officials were held for the purpose of preparing martial law.