Friday, December 13, 2024

Read it and Weep



Vote November 10, in the National Assembly to appoint a permanent special investigation team to investigate the martial law/ coup attempt by Yoon and company. It's a significant vote for a couple of reasons. First the votes for the legislation exceeded the number needed to overcome a veto by Yoon (over 200 out of 300 members). According to the report, there were 188 votes from the majority democratic party, the conservative reform party of Lee Jun-seok, the progressive party, etc., for 188 votes. No doubt this would include Cho Guk's small innovation party which typically votes with the democrats. The total vote in favor was 210, so this means 22 assembly members from the minority ruling PPP nominally Yoon and Han's party (the US and Japan favored party) voted for an independent special investigation of the coup attempt. (There were 14 abstentions).


They didn't know?



By my estimate, they are still two votes shy of impeaching Yoon this Saturday, Nov. 14, at four o'clock in the afternoon, Seoul time. Gallup Korea reports that Yoon's support is down to 11 percent and 75 percent want him impeached. His total disapproval rating is 85 percent. This brings to mind a statement that Yoon made early on in his presidential career, to the effect that even if only one percent of the public supported him, he would still do what he thinks is best.

Someone is leaking information about the cabinet meeting that took place for five minutes or less, immediately before Yoon went on television to announce martial law. I'm not sure who was there, other than Han Duk-soo, but they did not directly oppose Yoon, but raised issues about the unfavorable consequences and impacts that could arise. Yoon immediately went into one of his hissy fits and stormed out of the room, without concluding the meeting or dismissing the officials. It was said he went immediately into a nearby studio, where they could hear him making the televised address. What this suggests is that Yoon had already decided on martial law, and that he was getting his advice from others.

Washington is still going with "the coup d'etat in South Korea was a surprise" line, which is extremely unlikely.

“The fact that President Yoon surprised Washington is problematic,” said Green, adding the turmoil called into question whether Seoul was ready for contingency planning. “Dysfunction in South Korean government is risky, because North Korea may interpret it as an opportunity.”


Tim provided the free link to the WP article at his X feed.



What is the position of the National Intelligence Service? The Director Cho Tae-yong has strong connections with the US government. Take a look at Cho Tae-yong's resume for his extensive US based experience over at wikipedia Cho Tae-yong What was his role, if any? As I understood testimony at a hearing, the NIS deputy director Hong Jang-won described his own personal rejection of support to the martial law plot as it went into execution. He said he received a call from the president seeking support for the armed forces domestic counter intelligence mission after the announcement of martial law. Likewise, where were Sin Won-sik, and Kim Tae-hyo from the National Security Office while all this was going on?

Former Vice Minister Hong is the person who revealed that he was ordered by President Yoon Seok-yeol to arrest politicians during martial law. He testified in a meeting with National Assembly Intelligence Committee Chairman Shin Sung-beom on the 6th that he was told by President Yoon to “help and support the Counterintelligence Command, as we will give the National Intelligence Service the authority to investigate counterintelligence.” He also claims that he reported this to National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong but was ignored, and that he resigned after refusing to comply with the order and was ordered by the president to dismiss him.


Prosecutors' Office and Public Prosecutor's Office Investigate First Vice Director of the National Intelligence Service,...
A legislator, formerly with the NIS, Park Seon-won, is reporting that lower level deputies in the NIS were ordered to carry out investigations of "leftist youtubers" working as "agents of North Korea," on December 11! According to the assemblyman, the president is the only one who could have given this order. This means Yoon is in the process of seeking "evidence" to support his purported defense to his martial law declaration, as lawful to save democracy and the constitutional order, endangered by state enemies. Ostensibly troops were sent into the National Assembly building on Dec. 3, to "protect democracy," and end the majority opposition's "bullying" with the same purpose. Initially this coup attempt was to be coordinated with military provocations precedent to the declaration of martial law. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the ROK armed forces declined to follow this effort to elicit some sort of North Korean military reaction a week before the Dec. 3 declaration.

[Breaking News] Police Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho and Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Bong-sik Arrested for ‘Engaging in Critical Internal Rebellion Mission’


Yoon's speech Thursday night was probably prepared by legal counsel, formulating his legal defense, for an anticipated impeachment trial down the road. Yoon is not going to resign according to reports but prefers to fight this all the way. Hopefully, he'll be impeached tomorrow at 4 pm Seoul time, but nothing is certain. Link to last night's speech in English:



The most obvious lie in the speech was that special forces troops sent to arrest a list of assembly members and block their vote to stop martial law, were "unarmed." You can see their weapons in several videos of their assault on the National Assembly building. My understanding from all the reports I've heard, was that they were to be dispatched with live ammunition.

The contents of the speech are absurd. From Kim Jong-tae's guest essay in the Hankyoreh today:

He forgot to consider evidence that the troops dispatched to the National Assembly not only had blank rounds but live ammunition and even taser guns. It was a shallow ploy to escape charges of treason and inciting violence after he’s impeached. Moreover, not only Kwak but Lt. Gen. Lee Jin-woo, head of the Capital Defense Command; Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service; and Yeo In-hyeong, leader of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, all have given testimony that Yoon ordered the arrest of politicians and drafted plans for martial law in advance. Yoon’s only path for escaping charges of plotting and leading an insurrection has been completely sealed.


[Guest essay] Bald-faced lies of a failed insurrectionist
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/english_editorials/1172966.html




One of those to be arrested was a judge who recently found Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the democratic opposition, not guilty. Lee still faces other hearings on separate charges engineered by Yoon's "dictatorship of prosecutors."

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