"Legal Accountability for Martial Law Participants Needed... Ban and Restrict Pardons"

Claims Raised at May 18 Organization's National Assembly Debate on the 3rd

Poster for the December 3 Martial Law Overcoming National Debate.

On the first anniversary of the December 3 Martial Law, voices have been raised calling for those responsible to be held judicially accountable for crimes such as insurrection and military rebellion, and emphasizing that pardons should not be allowed.

On December 3, at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Seoul, the “December 3 Martial Law Overcoming National Debate” was held, organized by the Last Citizen Army Comrades Association of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.

At the debate, experts in law and other fields participated, defining last year’s December 3 incident as a threat to the constitutional order and stressing the need for subsequent political and legal measures.

Attorney Kim Sungju, who participated as a panelist, highlighted the need for legal punishment, referencing the history of state violence that continued after May 18.

Attorney Kim stated, “Legal safeguards must be strengthened to prevent the abuse of martial law authority. The lukewarm punishment of those responsible for May 18 became the seed for further state violence. We must hold the December 3 insurrection participants strictly accountable under the law, without leniency, to prove that the destruction of constitutional order can never be tolerated.”

Professor Kim Jaeyoon of Konkuk University’s Department of Law also called for rigorous accountability, emphasizing that judicial determination of the key actors in the December 3 insurrection is essential.

Professor Kim asserted, “The charges of insurrection, military rebellion, and abuse of authority against former President Yoon Sukyeol and the main martial law command must be clarified through a fair trial. We must not repeat the historical mistake of granting political pardons in the name of national unity.”

Lee Jaeseung, president of the May 18 Society at Konkuk University, made a concrete proposal to introduce a system restricting pardons, stating, “Those involved in the insurrection should be dealt with within the framework of legal punishment and disciplinary measures. Provisions prohibiting or restricting pardons for insurrection and rebellion, which destroy the constitutional order, should be introduced into the Pardon Act.”

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