Yoon Sang-hyun Raises Issues with Testimonies of Kwak Jong-geun and Hong Jang-won at Press Conference
Democratic Party: "No Room for Wordplay or Delusions Like Impeachment Conspiracy Theories"
Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out that the statements of parties involved in martial law during the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol have been changing, and demanded legal action at the party level. However, it is known that many of the statements of the martial law parties identified as changed have already been confirmed as facts through other channels.
On the 9th, Yoon held a press conference at the National Assembly, raising concerns about changes in some statements of key witnesses appearing in President Yoon's impeachment trial and suggesting the possibility of evidence manipulation. He mentioned former Army Special Warfare Command Commander Kwak Jong-geun's statement in December last year that he was "ordered to pull the lawmakers inside out" and former National Intelligence Service First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won's statement that he was "also requested to arrest about 15 people including Lee Jae-myung, Han Dong-hoon, and Woo Won-shik," saying, "Based on these witnesses' words, the entire political flow thereafter proceeded on the premise that 'martial law equals rebellion'." Yoon added, "As the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial began and fact verification was conducted, the testimonies of the martial law parties gradually changed," citing that former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun said it was not 'lawmakers' but '(Special Warfare) operatives' who were to be taken out at the National Assembly, and former First Deputy Director Hong faced controversy over 'contaminated memos.'"
The Opposition: Impeachment conspiracy theory is wordplay
In this regard, former Commander Kwak rebutted at the Constitutional Court, saying, "At the time when I was told to pull out the operatives, those personnel were not even inside the main building," and "Both (President Yoon and former Minister Kim) clearly said to pull out the lawmakers." Regarding former First Deputy Director Hong's memo, President Yoon confirmed at the Constitutional Court that he gave the order to "arrest them all." However, he claimed that he told Hong to assist with spy arrests, which were unrelated to martial law affairs.
On the other hand, the Democratic Party rebutted that this controversy has already been confirmed as fact through military prosecution investigations.
The previous day, Han Min-soo, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said, "It is known that the internal situation of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, which was confused by the order to arrest politicians on the illegal martial law day of December 3, was fully revealed during the military prosecution investigation," adding, "An insider from the Counterintelligence Command testified in writing that the investigation team actually dispatched to the scene to arrest politicians and was assigned the mission to 'escort and detain' them. The arrest order was issued without time to verify whether the Counterintelligence Command could detain politicians without a warrant or what the charges were." Furthermore, "The insider said that the number of arrest targets was 14, and the list mostly matched the names delivered by former Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, including Lee Jae-myung, Woo Won-shik, Han Dong-hoon, and Cho Kuk."
Regarding this, spokesperson Han stated, "There is no longer any room for wordplay such as operatives, lawmakers, or personnel, nor for delusions like impeachment conspiracy theories," adding, "No sophistry or wordplay can hide the illegal orders anymore. Any agitation attempting to obscure the essence of the unconstitutional illegal martial law will not work."
Senior People Power Party members to meet President Yoon on the 10th
Meanwhile, Yoon sharply criticized the party leadership's response. In response to criticism that the party leadership distances itself by saying "It is the Constitutional Court's matter" regarding the Constitutional Court justices, he raised his voice, saying, "We are all like grains of sand," and "We should unite like stones to protect our colleagues and supporters somehow."
Meanwhile, Yoon introduced that on the 10th, four People Power Party lawmakers including Kim Ki-hyun and Choo Kyung-ho will visit President Yoon.
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