Jo Ji-ho's Side: "Three Acts of Defiance Against Yoon... President Directly Ordered Arrests of Key Politicians"

Received instructions from Seomyeon at 7:20 PM on the 3rd
President Yoon made six direct calls

On the afternoon of the day the 12·3 Emergency Martial Law incident occurred, Police Commissioner Jo Ji-ho and Seoul Police Commissioner Kim Bong-sik directly met with President Yoon Seok-yeol and received instructions regarding martial law. During this process, Commissioner Jo's side claims to have refused President Yoon's orders three times.

Yonhap News

Jo's attorney, Lawyer Noh Jeong-hwan, told reporters on the morning of the 13th, "From the afternoon of the day martial law was declared until the time it was lifted by the National Assembly, Commissioner Jo disobeyed President Yoon's orders three times," adding, "This is the core content of the defense."

According to Commissioner Jo's side, the first act of defiance occurred around 7:20 p.m. on the 3rd, during a roughly five-minute face-to-face meeting between Commissioner Jo, Commissioner Kim, and President Yoon. At this meeting, they received a written document about the emergency martial law on A4 paper from President Yoon. This document included about ten institutions that were to be subjected to martial law, such as the National Assembly, media companies, and the 'Flower of Public Opinion' led by YouTuber Kim Eo-jun. It is reported that President Yoon used words like 'National Assembly' and 'pro-North forces' with a resolute tone to assert the legitimacy of martial law.

Lawyer Noh said, "Commissioner Jo reportedly thought it was absurd upon receiving the document and tore up the paper on his way back," adding, "However, around 10:20 p.m., he was surprised to see the martial law actually declared on TV."

On the 9th, the entrance door of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, was firmly closed. Since President Yoon Seok-yeol's emergency address on the martial law situation on the 7th, he has remained silent, staying secluded in the residence. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The second act of defiance occurred immediately after the declaration of martial law. Around 10:30 p.m. on the 3rd, Yeo In-hyung, the Counterintelligence Commander, called Commissioner Jo and requested the arrest of 15 major politicians and the reinforcement of security personnel at three election management committees (Seon-gwan-wi). After receiving a report that Commander Yeo requested location tracking of the arrest targets, Commissioner Jo ordered refusal. About 20 minutes later, at around 10:50 p.m., Yoon Seung-young, the Investigation Planning and Coordination Officer (Police Commissioner) of the National Investigation Headquarters, came up again and relayed that Commander Yeo requested location tracking, and Commissioner Jo refused once more, according to the attorney's explanation.

The 15 major politicians whom Commander Yeo ordered to be arrested reportedly included Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly; Park Chan-dae, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea; and Han Dong-hoon, Leader of the People Power Party.

The final act of defiance took place during a direct phone call with President Yoon. After the declaration of martial law, while martial law troops were controlling the National Assembly, President Yoon reportedly called Commissioner Jo six times directly, conveying messages such as "Arrest the members of the National Assembly" and "It is a violation of the Martial Law Act, so it does not matter if you arrest them." Commissioner Jo's side claims that he judged these orders to be absurd and dismissed them without informing his staff.