Minister Sang-min Lee: "Treason, Accomplices to Treason... Please Be Careful with Expressions"

Attendance at National Assembly Public Administration Committee Emergency Inquiry
Cannot Accept the Term 'Suspect'
"Apologetic" Yet Avoids Specific Answers
"Opinion on President's Wording... Not Appropriate"

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min stated regarding the recent martial law declaration incident, "Please be cautious with expressions such as 'treason' or 'accomplice to treason'." Since the matter has not yet been investigated and no legal judgment has been made, expressions like 'suspect of treason' are unacceptable. Minister Lee is known to have been highly involved in the incident, having attended both the Cabinet meetings held immediately before President Yoon Seok-yeol's martial law declaration and the resolution for lifting the martial law.

Minister Lee attended an emergency hearing of the Administrative Safety Committee at the National Assembly on the morning of the 5th, expressing, "As one of the Cabinet members, I apologize and feel regretful for not being able to serve the people comfortably," but maintained a defensive stance regarding the incident.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min is undergoing a security check after appearing at an emergency inquiry regarding the police response during martial law at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on the 5th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

In particular, Minister Lee drew a clear line during the briefing, stating, "This is not an investigation, and if I was called as the Minister of the Interior and Safety, I will respond to questions and answers as the Minister of the Interior and Safety." Regarding the process of reporting the martial law declaration, he only mentioned, "On the 3rd, from 00:00 to around 00:30, a meeting of senior officials at the director-general level was held chaired by the Minister, urging smooth business operations and the provision of normal administrative services, especially paying attention to disaster safety management." Regarding the minutes of the Cabinet meeting at that time, he said, "Since the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s legislative affairs office was not directly involved, we will receive related materials from the Presidential Office and disclose the minutes as soon as they are completed."

When asked about his judgment on the term 'anti-state organization' mentioned by President Yoon, Minister Lee replied, "Since this is a question about my evaluation of the words used by the President during the process of declaring martial law, I do not think it is appropriate for me to comment on each word used by the President."

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, on the 3rd, when President Yoon declared martial law, Minister Lee followed his scheduled itinerary. After attending the Cabinet meeting at 10 a.m., he moved to Ulsan and participated in the National Integration Kimchi-making event at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium from 2:30 p.m., and then chaired the Central-Local Policy Council at the main building of Ulsan City Hall from 4:25 p.m.

However, it is reported that Minister Lee suddenly left around 5 p.m. during the meeting and headed to Seoul. He then arrived in Seoul around 8 p.m. and attended the Cabinet meeting. Minister Lee attended both Cabinet meetings held immediately before the martial law declaration and for the resolution to lift the martial law.

The biggest point of interest is whether Minister Lee was involved in the martial law declaration. According to the Martial Law Act, the Minister of National Defense or the Minister of the Interior and Safety can recommend the declaration of martial law to the President through the Prime Minister in situations such as wartime, incidents, or equivalent national emergencies. The Ministry of National Defense has already confirmed that former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun recommended the martial law declaration to the President. Both Minister Kim and Minister Lee are key close aides and alumni of Chung-Ang High School with President Yoon.

However, former Minister Kim did not attend the National Defense Committee’s urgent hearing on the same day. Although he was scheduled to attend the urgent hearing of the National Defense Committee, his attendance was canceled after he submitted his resignation on the 4th and President Yoon approved his dismissal on the same day.