The Office of the President and the ruling party strongly criticized the Democratic Party of Korea’s suspicion of the government’s preparation for martial law on the 2nd. Defense Minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun (pictured) also objected to the suspicion of martial law raised by the opposition party during the National Assembly confirmation hearing held that day, saying, “A hearing is not a place for political agitation.”
In a briefing that day, presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon criticized, “(The Democratic Party) is becoming like the totalitarian propaganda politics of the Nazis and Stalin,” and “If this is not irresponsible propaganda, (Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader) should stake his position as party leader and say it.” People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon also raised his voice at a Supreme Council meeting that day, saying to the Democratic Party, “Present evidence,” and “If this is not true, it is tantamount to a disruption of the national flag.”
There is criticism both inside and outside the political world that the Democratic Party is waging a political offensive by using martial law, which is virtually impossible. Martial law is a measure taken by the president to maintain public order and judicial power by mobilizing the military when order needs to be maintained in a national emergency. However, if the National Assembly demands the lifting of martial law with the consent of a majority of its members, the president must lift martial law. The ruling party’s position is that it is impossible to do so with the opposition party in the minority.
Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said the previous day, “There is also talk that they planned to arrest and detain lawmakers at the same time as martial law was declared in order to prevent the National Assembly from demanding the lifting of martial law.” However, Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party’s chief spokesperson, could not provide a specific explanation, saying only that “there is circumstantial evidence.”
There is also criticism that the premise related to martial law itself does not hold up. People Power Party lawmaker Han Ki-ho said, “Martial law can only be declared when there is a national emergency due to opposition forces against the government,” and asked, “How can President Yoon Seok-yeol and the People Power Party create a martial law situation?”
The controversy over the martial law suspicions continued at the confirmation hearing for the Minister of National Defense held that day. The first questioner at the confirmation hearing, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won, asked, “Did you call the commander of the Defense Defense Command, the commander of the Special Warfare Command, and the commander of the Counterintelligence Command to the Hannam-dong official residence?” and “What did you say? Didn’t you say anything about martial law?” In response, candidate Kim refuted, “I don’t think a confirmation hearing is a place to spread false rumors and incite politics based on untrue facts.” Candidate Kim asked, “If we were to declare martial law in the current situation in the Republic of Korea, which citizen would tolerate it? Would our military follow suit?” and said, “I don’t think I would.” He added, “Honestly, I think the martial law issue is out of sync with the times,” and “So I don’t think you should worry too much.” When asked repeatedly by ruling and opposition party lawmakers whether he would suggest declaring martial law after becoming minister, he answered, “I don’t think so.”
The Democratic Party also claimed in 2018 that “the Defense Security Command planned a coup d’état” based on documents created during the Park Geun-hye administration. Regarding the “martial law declaration theory” that periodically surface, there is analysis that the Democratic Party is trying to “stigmatize the conservative government.” Eom Kyung-young, the director of the Institute for the Study of the Spirit of the Times, analyzed, “Is there a country with a national income of over $10,000 that has declared martial law?” and “There is also an intention to unite the “dog daughters” (strong supporters of Lee Jae-myung) to prepare for Representative Lee’s judicial risk.”
Reporter Kim Dong-hyun [email protected]
