hankyoreh

Then-President Yoon Suk-yeol (right) and then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun applaud during a military parade for Armed Forces Day on Oct. 1, 2024. Both have now been charged with treason, on top of standing trial on charges of insurrection. (Kim Tae-hyeong/Hankyoreh)

New details have emerged about former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun repeatedly pressuring the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others to conduct strikes against the source of North Korean trash balloons and fire warning shots in October 2024. Such insistence seems to have stemmed from Kim’s frustration that an operation to fly drones over Pyongyang failed to elicit a response that would justify the declaration of martial law.
 
Further details appear to show that former President Yoon Suk-yeol alluded to martial law as early as six months into office by referring to the president’s emergency executive authority and stating, “I don’t care if I get shot to death, I’ll make sure to bring it all down.” 

Special counsel Cho Eun-seok and his team of investigators have concluded that the various political woes that plagued Yoon starting in the latter half of 2023 prompted the former president to consider declaring martial law.
 
The written indictment of Yoon, Kim and others on charges of treason by benefiting an enemy filed by the special counsel team, reviewed by the Hankyoreh on Wednesday, claims that the relevant parties deemed the Pyongyang drone infiltration operation insufficient to create a situation warranting the declaration of martial law, leading them to attempt to take warning shots and strikes against the source of the trash-filled balloons that North Korea had floated across the border throughout the summer and into fall of 2024. 
 
Investigations revealed that on Oct. 27, 2024, Kim instructed Kang Ho-pil, the chief of the ROK Army’s Ground Operations Command at the time, to fire warning shots, saying, “I’ve discussed this with the president. Around 6,000 trash balloons have fallen into our territory, and North Korean leaflets even made it to the site where we were holding the event for the Polish president. The president agrees that North Korea has crossed the line.” 

When Kang expressed his reservations, Kim reprimanded him for being a “damned scaredy-cat.”
 
The military was prepared to strike under Kim’s orders, but opposition from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Yoon’s absence due to an overseas trip meant the operation was never carried out. 

After North Korea floated more trash balloons across the border around midnight on Nov. 18, Kim marched to the Joint Chiefs’ combat control room at 1:30 am. That afternoon, Kim summoned Lee Seung-oh, the chief of operations at the Joint Chiefs headquarters at the time, and reportedly informed him that, after Yoon came back from his overseas tour, the military would conduct strikes if more refuse-filled balloons were floated upon the president’s return. 

He also told Lee, “If North Korea continues to send trash balloons, recommend striking the source of the balloons without assessing possible collateral damages or conducting quantitative or qualitative evaluations,” according to the indictment.
 
Kim then called Kang, explaining, “After informing the president of the situation, he told me that it was important to ‘tactfully manage the situation so it does not escalate,’ as he was currently overseas, which made it impossible for me to give the order to strike.” This indicates that Kim was consulting closely with Yoon regarding operations such as striking the source of the trash balloons, which would have evoked a strong response from North Korea.
 
The former defense minister reportedly lost his temper at the Joint Chiefs for opposing the operation to strike North Korea at the source of the balloons. When Kim Myung-soo, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the time, and Lee sought an audience with Kim Yong-hyun on Nov. 22 to express their opposition to such strikes, the defense minister slammed his hand against the desk while lashing out at the former chairperson, the prosecutors wrote in the indictment. When Kim Myung-soo refused to bow down, Kim Yong-hyun seemed to abandon the idea, albeit begrudgingly.
 
However, as North Korea floated more trash balloons southwards on Nov. 28, Kim Yong-hyun ordered the Joint Chiefs to give a report on the plan to strike the source of the trash balloons. To prevent the minister from making a rash, unilateral decision, Kim Myung-soo and Lee prepared a detailed report specifying implementation procedures that required prior notification to the Ministry of National Defense, the Joint Chiefs, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Office of National Security and the National Assembly.
 
The special counsel team believes that attempting to strike the source of the trash balloons not only violated the Armistice Agreement but also failed to meet the requirements for exercising the right of self-defense. It also presents evidence that the attempt bypassed consultation with the standing committee of the National Security Council.
 
The indictment also included details of Yoon hinting at a possible declaration of martial law, as early as November 2022 — six months into office — by making a reference to “emergency executive authority.”

The special counsel team wrote in its indictment that, during a banquet for People Power Party leadership in November 2022, Yoon remarked, “I have emergency executive authority. I’ll raze everything to the ground. I don’t care if I get shot to death, I’ll make sure to bring it all down,” to Kim Chong-hyuk, a former member of the PPP’s interim leadership committee, and others. The Yoon administration had struggled with an opposition-ruled legislature since its inauguration, leading to prolonged partisan clashes.
 
The special counsel team reached the conclusion that the martial law declaration was an attempt to turn the luck of the Yoon administration around after Yoon’s approval rating languished in the 30% range following various scandals and political defeats: the cover-up of an investigation into the death of a Marine corporal in August 2023, the PPP’s loss in the by-election for the head of Seoul’s Gangseo District in October 2023, the graft suspicions against former first lady Kim Keon-hee in November 2023 and Busan’s failure to win the bid to host the 2023 World Expo in November 2023.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter; Kang Jae-gu, staff reporter

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