Lee Jae-myung: "If Martial Law Had Succeeded, There Would Have Been Massive Casualties"

"A Thoroughly Calculated Martial Law"
"Yoon Attempted to Provoke a Localized War with North Korea"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, predicted on the 11th that former President Yoon Seok-yeol's declaration of '12·3 Emergency Martial Law' last year was "a thoroughly calculated martial law, and if even one part had succeeded, our people would have resisted, resulting in tremendous casualties."

On the morning of the same day, Lee appeared on 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Difficult News Factory' and stated, "If martial law had been enforced, the country would have collapsed, and it would have plunged into perfect chaos with no one knowing how long the military regime would last."

He recalled, "If even one soldier dispatched to the scene had faithfully carried out the orders, if the helicopter had arrived even a little earlier, or if our people had arrived a little later, martial law might have been enforced. If their plan had gone as intended that day, everyone could have died, and the armored vehicles might have crushed everything."

Lee Jae-myung, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

When asked whether he had foreseen the martial law, Lee replied, "I was certain," adding, "The April 10 general election last year ended with a landslide victory for the Democratic Party, and after that, seeing what the Yoon Seok-yeol administration was doing, it was rushing toward a dead end."

Lee said, "For example, at the confirmation hearing for Kim Moon-soo, Minister of Employment and Labor, they deliberately made more severe (inappropriate remarks), and the minister and the prime minister came to the National Assembly and turned into gladiators," adding, "Appointing the Human Rights Commission chairperson as someone with anti-human rights views, and the controversial August 15 speech by the director of the Independence Hall, looking back now, it seems President Yoon himself blocked all his escape routes."

He continued, "At that rate, the republic cannot be maintained," and questioned, "If someone from the People Power Party comes to power after his term, will his (President Yoon's) safety be guaranteed?" He then directly criticized, "He (President Yoon) cannot be unaware of this, yet he continues down an endlessly anti-national path."

Regarding the reason for President Yoon's emergency martial law, Lee analyzed, "As a legal expert, he probably tried to follow the formalities. There must be reasons equivalent to riots, that is, incidents or wartime. Incidents are difficult because the people are highly aware. It seemed that the goal of the emergency martial law was to provoke North Korea to trigger a localized war and then impose martial law and military rule."

When asked whether North Korea had perceived President Yoon's intentions, Lee responded, "I think so," adding, "Isn't it strange that they are building barriers not to invade the South but to prevent a Northern invasion?"

Last year, North Korea showed signs of severing physical connections with the South by erecting barriers along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).