hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol, political broker Myung Tae-kyun, and first lady Kim Keon-hee. (Hankyoreh file photo)

Political suicide — that is the name many have given President Yoon Suk-yeol’s late-night declaration of martial law on Tuesday, which was promptly rendered null and void in a matter of 153 minutes. The extraordinary circumstances have led to much speculation as to why the president would abruptly invoke martial law in breach of all prerequisites and lawful procedures without any plan to surmount its biggest obstacle: the opposition’s majority in the National Assembly that enabled it to vote to end military rule. 
 
One plausible interpretation is that Yoon played the martial law card to protect first lady Kim Keon-hee. A bill to assign a special counsel to investigate Kim, which Yoon vetoed for the third time on Nov. 26, is up for a revote on Tuesday. However, since People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon has opted to stay strategically reticent on how the party will vote on the bill, many had speculated that there could be a huge surge in breakaway votes.
 
To Yoon, the first lady is untouchable, and he has not hidden his contempt and displeasure toward the opposition party’s continued criticism of his wife. His fear that the bill might pass due to support from his own party may have pushed Yoon to overplay his hand.
 
Democratic Party Supreme Council member Kim Min-seok, who has been warning of a possible invocation of martial law since August, stated in a Wednesday radio interview, “[Yoon’s] frenzied obsession with batting down any attempts to investigate the first lady, even if that means violating the constitutional order, has led us to this point.”
 
Wednesday also marked the date that the opposition party had planned to vote on impeachment motions against Choi Jae-hae, the chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and Lee Chang-su, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, leading some to believe that Yoon was attempting to thwart the votes.
 
The leading opposition Democratic Party’s unilateral passing of the budget bill for 2025, which sharply cut special activity funds for the presidential office, may also have triggered Yoon.
 
With an approval rating lingering in the 20 percent range, Yoon has effectively been left with only state investigative and audit bodies to carry out his governance. Some argue that when the opposition party attempted to pump the brakes on the activities of such bodies, Yoon decided it was time to show lawmakers who’s boss.
 
Yoon’s ire toward the Democratic Party was palpable in his announcement that he was declaring martial law, as he proclaimed the government to be “in a state of paralysis due to impeachments, special probes, and the defense of the opposition leader.”
 
Yoon may have resorted to martial law following the indictment and detention of Myung Tae-kyun, a figure at the heart of allegations that the president and his wife interfered in nominations for elected office, anticipating further disclosures after Myung called for a special counsel probe.
 
“We believe that Yoon felt pressured by Myung’s remarks regarding the presidential couple’s cell phones, his demand for a special counsel probe on the day of his indictment, and the prosecution’s further charges for destruction of evidence,” Myung’s lawyers stated Wednesday. Myung has previously declared that Yoon’s administration would “collapse within a month” if he were to be arrested. 
 
Before his indictment, Myung hinted through his lawyers that he could hand over the cell phone he used to call the presidential couple to the opposition party, which could have triggered Yoon to act drastically.
 
“Myung’s insistence on a special prosecutor probe is a sign that he is willing to provide the investigation with information in his possession,” assessed Reform Party member Lee Jun-seok in a radio interview on Wednesday.

“Some lawmakers believe that Yoon, after being informed of such intelligence, decided that this situation could not be solved through sensible means,” Lee added. 
 
Yoon’s tendency to explode into fits of rage and his penchant for authoritarian leadership which stems from his days as a prosecutor may also have affected his decision to enact martial law.
 
A leading ruling party figure who worked in the presidential office for the first half of Yoon’s term told the Hankyoreh, “Perhaps because this was how things worked as a prosecutor, Yoon would constantly receive one-on-one reports and often dish out admonishments. He demonstrated little to no understanding of the decision-making process expected in a system or organization.”

By Lee Seung-jun, staff reporter

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