Yoon: "Cannot Dismiss as Election Fraud Conspiracy... Martial Law Is Not a Crime"

Yoon Releases Handwritten Statement on Facebook
"Election Fraud Cannot Be Dismissed as a Conspiracy Theory"
"Martial Law Declared to Inform the Public of Urgency"
"Legal Professionals Reduced to Servants of Political Power"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering a national address regarding his appearance at the Corruption Investigation Office on the 15th. Photo by Yonhap News

President Yoon Suk-yeol claimed, "There is abundant evidence of election fraud in our country's elections," and questioned, "Isn't this situation a national emergency equivalent to wartime or an armed conflict?" Regarding the declaration of martial law, he stated, "It is an exercise of presidential authority to overcome a national crisis" and insisted, "It is not a crime."

President Yoon made these remarks on the afternoon of the 15th through a post titled 'A Message to the People' on his social media (SNS) Facebook page. Since he was arrested by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HOCI) that day, it appears the post was uploaded by his legal team on his behalf.

The author of the post said, "This message is a handwritten letter by President Yoon Suk-yeol, written overnight with a fountain pen at the beginning of the new year," and added, "We are sharing the original manuscript as it is." Several sheets of A4 paper, seemingly written by President Yoon himself, were attached to the post.

In the message, President Yoon wrote, "It's somewhat ironic, but after the impeachment motion was filed, I finally realized that I am indeed the president," and added, "Since my inauguration, I have been working tirelessly from early morning until late at night, so I think I haven't really felt like the president."

Photo of a handwritten manuscript posted on President Yoon Suk-yeol's Facebook on the 15th. Photo by Yonhap News.

Repeated Claims of Election Fraud... "A Software Crisis Situation"

In his lengthy message, President Yoon mentioned achievements during his term such as the abolition of punitive taxation policies, real estate policies faithful to market principles, surpassing Japan in per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and normalization of Korea-Japan relations, before reiterating his claims of election fraud.

President Yoon stated, "Although there is insufficient evidence to punish specific individuals for election fraud, it cannot be dismissed as a conspiracy theory," and explained, "If multiple bodies stabbed to death were found but the murderer was not identified, one cannot claim that no murder occurred and that it was a normal natural death."

He continued, "In a normal country, the Supreme Court justices and the National Election Commission who discover such issues during election lawsuits should request investigations and actively cooperate to thoroughly verify whether illegal election activities occurred," but said, "Nevertheless, this was concealed."

President Yoon asserted that a large-scale force may have been involved in the election fraud.

He said, "The election fraud system, carried out through digital systems and the insertion of fake ballots, is not something an inexperienced political faction in a country can attempt and push forward independently," and added, "The voting and counting fraud system consists of a public opinion polling system controlled by a specific political faction and the National Election Commission's refusal to verify and concealment."

President Yoon emphasized that this situation is a 'software crisis situation' and justified the declaration of martial law.

He stated, "As a catastrophic crisis of the Republic of Korea's operating system, the president has the duty to protect this system," and said, "Seeing the impeachment of the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, a constitutional institution, and the attempt to bring the Constitutional Court, another constitutional institution, to trial, I thought emergency measures were necessary to fulfill the duty to uphold the constitution."

President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is accused of leading an insurrection and abusing his authority to obstruct the exercise of rights, is appearing on the 15th at the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit within the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

"Martial Law is a Presidential Authority... To Inform the People of Urgency"

Regarding martial law, he said, "It is an exclusive and monopolistic authority granted to the president," and explained, "Martial law in the past was limited to preparing for war, but our constitution defines it as a 'national emergency equivalent to war,' anticipating various national crisis situations beyond war as grounds for martial law."

President Yoon said, "Doesn't the word 'martial law' mean to alert and warn about the gravity of the situation?" and explained, "I wanted to inform the people, who may not fully recognize the crisis facing our country's liberal democracy and popular sovereignty, of the urgency of the situation, and to have the sovereign people vigilantly monitor and criticize the ruinous dictatorship of the National Assembly, thereby protecting liberal democracy and constitutional order."

He particularly noted, "When the National Assembly passed a resolution demanding the lifting of martial law, I immediately withdrew, and it ended peacefully without any casualties or damage," and added, "It is truly absurd that I was impeached under the frame-up of 'martial law = rebellion,' and that the Minister of National Defense and military officials who prepared and executed this are now detained."

President Yoon claimed, "Nationwide martial law requires the deployment of at least six to seven divisions, tens of thousands of troops," and said, "The Minister of National Defense is someone who served as the Operations Director and Chief of Operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, so he cannot be unaware of this. Since this was a public appeal under the guise of martial law, only a small-scale troop deployment was planned."

He emphasized again, "Would I have imposed martial law like this to extend my rule and become a dictator? With such a small mini force for a very short martial law period?" and added, "I cannot predict how the judicial decision will turn out, but I believe the people will clearly understand whether this martial law was to uphold the constitution and save the country or not."

Strong Criticism of Arrest Warrant... "Judicial Reality is Absurd"

President Yoon also strongly criticized the issuance and execution of the arrest warrant against him.

He said, "An arrest warrant was issued by an investigative agency without investigative authority, and a judge arbitrarily lifted the legal restrictions on search and seizure, issuing an illegal and invalid warrant. Thousands of riot police were mobilized to execute it, and they trespassed without permission into a first-class military facility protection zone, threatening to arrest the presidential security officers on the spot for obstructing the warrant execution. Seeing this current judicial reality, I am dumbfounded, wondering if this is what the legal community I have experienced for 26 years is like."

He continued, "This gives me a bitter conviction that my judgment that our country is currently in a serious national crisis is not wrong," and said, "The rule of law that realizes liberal democracy is not formalistic rule of law or rule of law that uses tricks."

President Yoon also stated, "Laws that are created must thoroughly protect minorities and individual rights, not be dominated by majority rule."

He emphasized, "Left-wing activists relied on the protection of the rule of law when they were not the mainstream, but after securing an absolute majority in the National Assembly, they prioritize democracy by majority rule over substantive rule of law, and emphasize democratic control over rule of law control," and warned, "If this continues, lawyers and legal professionals will degenerate into servants of political power."