Unveiled plot reminiscent of military rule
By Lee Min-hyung
The military set up a comprehensive plan to impose martial law ahead of the Constitutional Court's ruling on Park Geun-hye early last year, according to a document released Tuesday.
This plan could have been executed to quell protests and control media and the National Assembly, if the Constitutional Court had rejected Park's impeachment.
The document, which the Ministry of National Defense submitted to the National Assembly on Monday night, included an array of plans for the military to take control of the nation by force. They encompass schemes to seek press censorship, emasculation of the Assembly and request for assistance from the U.S. government, according to the document.
The document, drawn up in March last year by the Defense Security Command (DSC), was aimed at suppressing pro-democracy demonstrators who took to the street to demand Park resign or be impeached. The DSC is under investigation for plotting to declare martial law by writing the document.
The 67-page-long document is drawing strong public backlash here, as the planned armed crackdown raises concerns that the military may have even plotted a coup.
Of note is that the military scenarios look identical to the ones back in 1980 when former army general-turned-President Chun Doo-hwan staged a coup to seize power. At that time, Chun launched an armed crackdown of pro-democracy rallies.
The dictator also sought U.S. approval while staging the nationwide coup.
"The military will invite the U.S. Ambassador to Korea and request cooperation in case the nation declares martial law," the document said.
The document also included the DSC's plan to take control of the media by running a special team in charge of press censorship.
The military also braced for possible backlash from the Assembly, with the document specifying its plan to crack down on lawmakers.
"Lawmakers who participate in anti-government political activities should be arrested (in the event of the declaration of martial law)," the document said.
With the military's plans creating snowballing controversies here in recent weeks, President Moon Jae-in ordered Defense Minister Song Young-moo to launch a special team to investigate the DSC's latest scandal and guarantee an autonomous and independent investigation.
But given the graveness of the incident, the government formed a joint civil-military investigation body Monday in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, seeking to carry out an in-depth investigation of the escalating scandal.
On Tuesday, the defense minister joined a plenary session of the Assembly, but declined to comment on who was responsible for the document.
"The special investigation team will find the truth by conducting a fair investigation into the scandal," Song said.
But the embattled defense chief refused to answer any other details.
When asked why he did not report the document to Cheong Wa Dae until a few months after he was aware of its existence in March, he said the decision was due to his "political judgment."
He said by the time he knew of its existence, the nation stood at a critical juncture due to the rare inter-Korean peace momentum and the planned summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"I judged that it was not the proper moment for me to launch an investigation into the document," Song said. "At that time, the nation was holding inter-Korean dialogue and local elections. I planned to investigate when the political situation stabilized here."
By Lee Min-hyung
 |
| Defense Minister Song Young-moo |
This plan could have been executed to quell protests and control media and the National Assembly, if the Constitutional Court had rejected Park's impeachment.
The document, which the Ministry of National Defense submitted to the National Assembly on Monday night, included an array of plans for the military to take control of the nation by force. They encompass schemes to seek press censorship, emasculation of the Assembly and request for assistance from the U.S. government, according to the document.
The document, drawn up in March last year by the Defense Security Command (DSC), was aimed at suppressing pro-democracy demonstrators who took to the street to demand Park resign or be impeached. The DSC is under investigation for plotting to declare martial law by writing the document.
The 67-page-long document is drawing strong public backlash here, as the planned armed crackdown raises concerns that the military may have even plotted a coup.
Of note is that the military scenarios look identical to the ones back in 1980 when former army general-turned-President Chun Doo-hwan staged a coup to seize power. At that time, Chun launched an armed crackdown of pro-democracy rallies.
The dictator also sought U.S. approval while staging the nationwide coup.
"The military will invite the U.S. Ambassador to Korea and request cooperation in case the nation declares martial law," the document said.
The document also included the DSC's plan to take control of the media by running a special team in charge of press censorship.
The military also braced for possible backlash from the Assembly, with the document specifying its plan to crack down on lawmakers.
"Lawmakers who participate in anti-government political activities should be arrested (in the event of the declaration of martial law)," the document said.
With the military's plans creating snowballing controversies here in recent weeks, President Moon Jae-in ordered Defense Minister Song Young-moo to launch a special team to investigate the DSC's latest scandal and guarantee an autonomous and independent investigation.
But given the graveness of the incident, the government formed a joint civil-military investigation body Monday in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, seeking to carry out an in-depth investigation of the escalating scandal.
On Tuesday, the defense minister joined a plenary session of the Assembly, but declined to comment on who was responsible for the document.
"The special investigation team will find the truth by conducting a fair investigation into the scandal," Song said.
But the embattled defense chief refused to answer any other details.
When asked why he did not report the document to Cheong Wa Dae until a few months after he was aware of its existence in March, he said the decision was due to his "political judgment."
He said by the time he knew of its existence, the nation stood at a critical juncture due to the rare inter-Korean peace momentum and the planned summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"I judged that it was not the proper moment for me to launch an investigation into the document," Song said. "At that time, the nation was holding inter-Korean dialogue and local elections. I planned to investigate when the political situation stabilized here."
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