Choo Kyungho Denies Allegations of Obstructing Martial Law Lift, Says "Only Brief Call With Yoon"

"After Phone Call with Yoon, General Assembly Location Changed to National Assembly"

Choo Kyungho, who was the floor leader of the People Power Party during the 12·3 Martial Law incident, has denied allegations that he discussed obstructing the resolution to lift martial law with former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

On the 18th, Choo released a statement saying, "During our phone call, former President Yoon only said, 'I'm sorry I couldn't inform you in advance about the declaration of martial law.' There was no discussion regarding the resolution to lift martial law."

Yonhap News

Choo spoke with former President Yoon for one minute starting at 11:22 p.m. on December 3 of last year, immediately after the declaration of martial law. Some, including members of the Democratic Party of Korea, have raised suspicions that Choo may have obstructed the lifting of martial law, citing his phone call with Yoon and the repeated changes to the location of the People Power Party's general assembly.

Choo explained that the reason the People Power Party's general assembly was convened at the party headquarters, rather than the National Assembly, was because the Supreme Council meeting location was changed to the headquarters due to police restricting access to the National Assembly. He added that immediately after his call with the president, the location of the general assembly was changed back to the National Assembly. In his statement, he elaborated, "If the president had ordered me to obstruct the vote on the resolution to lift martial law and I had intended to carry that out, I would not have changed the location of the general assembly to the National Assembly right after speaking with the president at party headquarters. Instead, I would have remained at party headquarters and gathered People Power Party lawmakers there."

Additionally, Choo stated, "National Assembly Speaker Woo Wonshik unilaterally notified us of the plenary session time for the resolution to lift martial law," and added, "I never mentioned a specific meeting time or requested a postponement."