Yoon: "Emergency Martial Law President's High Political Judgment... Will Stand Firm Against Impeachment and Investigation"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering a national address at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 12th. Photo by Yonhap News

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President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 12th, "The exercise of the president's emergency martial law proclamation authority is a governing act that is not subject to judicial review, like the exercise of pardon power or diplomatic authority," adding, "Whether I am impeached or investigated, I will face it with confidence."

In a nationwide address titled "A Message to the People" at the Yongsan Presidential Office that morning, President Yoon said, "In a disastrous emergency situation paralyzing the government, to protect the country and normalize state affairs, the emergency martial law measure exercised under the president's legal authority is a highly political judgment by the president and can only be controlled by the National Assembly's demand for its repeal."

On that day, five days after his nationwide apology speech regarding the emergency martial law on the 7th, President Yoon returned to the Yongsan Presidential Office and held an urgent nationwide address ahead of the National Assembly's re-vote on the impeachment motion scheduled for the 14th, directly expressing his position.

Regarding the emergency martial law incident, President Yoon emphasized, "Viewing the emergency measures taken to save the country as acts of rebellion aimed at destroying the nation is, as pointed out by many constitutional scholars and legal experts, putting our constitution and legal system in serious danger." His remarks are interpreted as a complete rejection of the ruling party's so-called 'orderly resignation theory,' emphasizing the legitimacy of the emergency martial law and signaling a legal response to impeachment trials and investigations.

President Yoon said, "Day after day, the ruling party has committed legislative violence with the power of the majority and has been obsessed solely with self-protection, and I tried to defend the freedom democracy and constitutional order of the Republic of Korea against the parliamentary dictatorship of the massive opposition party," adding, "I judged that there was no other way, so how could the president's constitutional decision and governing act be considered rebellion?"

On the morning of the 12th, citizens at Seoul Station are watching President Yoon Suk-yeol's address on TV. Photo by Yonhap News

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President Yoon also specifically explained the reasons for proclaiming emergency martial law, which he had not directly disclosed before. He began, "There have been many more serious matters that I could not directly reveal until now before making the grave decision of emergency martial law," and he revealed, "In the second half of last year, there were hacking attacks by North Korea on constitutional institutions including the National Election Commission and government agencies. The National Intelligence Service discovered this and tried to inspect information leaks and the safety of the computer systems, but the National Election Commission, citing its status as a constitutional institution, firmly refused."

He continued, "(The National Election Commission) allowed the NIS staff to attempt hacking as hackers, revealing that data manipulation was easily possible and that the firewall was practically nonexistent," pointing out, "The password was very simple, like '12345'." President Yoon said, "As president at the time, I was shocked upon receiving the NIS report," and questioned, "How can the people trust election results when the computer system managing the core of democracy, elections, is so flawed?"

President Yoon explained that he had requested improvements on problematic areas ahead of the April general election but was unsure if proper improvements were made, and for this reason, during the emergency martial law, he instructed former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun to inspect the National Election Commission’s computer system.

He repeatedly emphasized that the proclamation and lifting of emergency martial law were due to the rampage of the massive opposition party. President Yoon said, "The opposition party is now wildly dancing a frenzied sword dance, claiming that the emergency martial law proclamation constitutes the crime of rebellion," and added, "The opposition party has paralyzed the government through frequent impeachment motions."

Regarding the opposition party’s impeachment push, President Yoon said, "It is a protective impeachment to cover up their own misconduct and completely destroys public office discipline and legal order," adding, "The National Assembly dominated by the massive opposition party has become a monster that destroys the foundation of liberal democracy and constitutional order, not a foundation of liberal democracy."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, reversed his stance to support the 'Impeachment Motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol.' Initially, the party had set opposition to impeachment as its official position under the banner of 'orderly early resignation,' but as President Yoon showed no intention to step down, Han also changed his position. After President Yoon’s address was released that day, Han said, "After seeing the address, the party urgently ordered the convening of the party ethics committee to expel and remove President Yoon from the party," and added, "I believe it has become even clearer that the president can no longer perform his duties as president."

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