Yoon: "No Need for Counterintelligence Commander Surveillance Attempt... 'Hong Memo' Impeachment Plot"

"Hong Tied an Unknown Person's Request to an Arrest Order"

President Yoon Suk-yeol commented on the attempt to track politicians' locations during the December 3 emergency martial law, saying, "I think it was unnecessary and wrong," but explained that it was for 'monitoring movements' rather than 'arrest.' Regarding the so-called 'Hong Jang-won memo,' he criticized, "The problem is that they connected my phone call to an arrest order by the president and fabricated a plot of rebellion and impeachment."

On the afternoon of the 20th, at the Grand Bench of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, during the 10th impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol, President Yoon, seated, is seen conversing with his lawyers. Photo by Joint Press Corps

On the 20th, President Yoon made these remarks during the 10th hearing of his impeachment trial, after gaining the opportunity to state his opinion at the end of the witness examination of former National Intelligence Service (NIS) First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won. President Yoon said, "I recall it was December 4 when General Yeo In-hyung, Commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, asked Police Chief Jo Ji-ho to confirm locations and make arrests. After reading the article, I asked Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, 'What is going on?'"

He continued, "General Yeo was purely an operational commander without an investigative framework, so he requested location confirmation for monitoring movements. The police bluntly said, 'That is difficult unless we know the current phone being used.' I also think that part was truly unnecessary and wrong," he added.

President Yoon said, "I have seen several instances where I told former Deputy Director Hong, 'Help General Yeo,' and it seemed like he was working hard, so I called to encourage him." He added, "The core issue is that this was twisted into an arrest order without an object, making it appear as if the president had issued an arrest order." He also claimed, "He made that memo after saying, 'Hey, you crazy guy, that’s nonsense,' then resigned on December 5 and was dismissed on the 6th, and fabricated it as the president’s arrest order."

He also criticized former Deputy Director Hong’s statement to investigative agencies that "the president seems to not understand the NIS organization well," calling it "all nonsense." President Yoon said, "No one knows the NIS better than me except NIS staff. I have conducted NIS investigations for three years and have made tremendous efforts since taking office to strengthen the counterintelligence capabilities of the NIS, Defense Counterintelligence Command, and police."

Regarding the text messages exchanged between NIS Director Cho Tae-yong and First Lady Kim Keon-hee on the day of martial law and the following day, President Yoon said, "My wife and I changed our phones right after a business trip in mid-November last year," adding, "Since we got rid of all our original phones, I am actually curious about what kind of call records there are."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.