PM orders review of disciplinary action against Army official over martial law involvement
Brig. Gen. Kim Sang-hwan, the chief of the Army's legal affairs office, speaks during an annual National Assembly audit of the Army headquarters at Gyeryongdae, Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province, Oct. 24. Yonhap
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Thursday ordered the revocation of a 10-day disciplinary measure against a senior Army official over his involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law imposition last year, effectively calling on the defense minister to consider imposing a stricter penalty.
With approval from President Lee Jae Myung, Kim issued an emergency order to the defense minister to review an earlier decision that had imposed the second-lowest level of disciplinary action against Brig. Gen. Kim Sang-hwan, the chief of the Army's legal affairs office.
The prime minister noted that the official, responsible for maintaining legal order in the military, failed to advise or urge then Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, the martial law commander, to lift the martial law without delay.
The official was one of the 34 people aboard a bus that departed for Seoul from the Army headquarters in Gyeryong, some 145 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 4 last year, shortly after the National Assembly voted to lift the martial law decree. They returned about 30 minutes after departure.