Kim Junil: "Yoon Failed Both in Public Opinion and in Court" VS Kang Jeonae: "Yoon Made a Calculated Statement as a Defendant" [Current Affairs Show]

Kang Jeonae: "It was effective for Yoon to appear and refute directly"
Kim Junil: "If martial law had succeeded, Han Donghoon would have been dealt with first"

■ Broadcast: The Asia Business Daily 'So Jongseop's Current Affairs Show' (Monday to Friday, 4-5 PM)

■ Host: Political Specialist So Jongseop ■ Director: Producer Lee Miri

■ Guests: Kang Jeonae, former spokesperson for the People Power Party; Kim Junil, current affairs commentator (November 5)

So Jongseop: Shall we start with this topic? There have been continued reports recently about former President Yoon Sukyeol. After last year’s Armed Forces Day event, he reportedly shared bomb shots with generals at the presidential residence, and there have been testimonies that various things were said during that gathering.

Kang Jeonae: Yes. But the claim that many bomb shots were shared was not made by former Commander Kwack Jonggeun, but was something former President Yoon Sukyeol himself said.

So Jongseop: He admitted it himself.

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Kang Jeonae: Committee member Cho Gapje said the president made unnecessary remarks, but I actually don't think so. I thought, 'That's what a prosecutor would do.' Because former Commander Kwack Jonggeun made statements this time that he hadn't made before, and now former President Yoon Sukyeol is appearing in the insurrection trial. If he hadn’t appeared, it would have taken too long for his lawyers to hear about this testimony and then submit their opinion to the court.

So, from the court’s perspective, I think it was actually more effective for defendant Yoon Sukyeol to appear and refute the claims on the spot. The reason he mentioned drinking was because he could say that he made a slip of the tongue due to heightened emotions while drinking. And didn’t they share a lot of soju-beer cocktails at that gathering?

So Jongseop: They say about 20 rounds were shared.

Kang Jeonae: "It was effective for former President Yoon to appear and refute directly"

Kang Jeonae: That also means former Commander Kwack himself drank, so he could claim his memory was a bit hazy at the time. So, the fact that they drank could be used to counter both his own position and that of former Commander Kwack. The public might be disappointed-there were already stories about the president drinking a lot, and now people might think, 'Was it really that much?' But since he is now a defendant, I think it was a calculated statement to some extent.

So Jongseop: Do you think it was a good strategy for former President Yoon to directly refute and participate in the questioning?

"A calculated statement as a defendant, a reasonable choice"

Kang Jeonae: As I said earlier, if he hadn’t appeared, it would have taken a long time for the opinion to be submitted, and in the meantime, former Commander Kwack’s testimony would have been widely reported in the media. But with former President Yoon Sukyeol refuting immediately and saying, 'Didn’t we drink a lot?' the media at least reported both testimonies. From the defendant’s perspective, I think it was a reasonable strategic choice.

Kim Junil: I completely disagree. This situation is a total failure. Yoon Sukyeol coming out like this was a complete disaster, both in terms of public opinion and the trial itself. That’s how I see it. Why did defendant Yoon Sukyeol suddenly appear after not showing up before? It was after Kwack Jonggeun appeared. Now, the insurrection trial is dragging on, and many people may not know, but who have the witnesses been so far? For example, the chief of staff to Special Warfare Commander Kwack Jonggeun-he’s a brigadier general.

Around midnight on December 4 last year, martial law troops were preparing to enter the National Assembly main building in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

The brigadier general testified about everything he heard: 'Kwack Jonggeun was repeating orders. He said, "I’ll go in and arrest them."' He recounted all the conversations he overheard on the phone. He just told everything he heard. The aide to Jinwoo Lee, Commander of the Capital Defense Command, who was a captain, also testified, as did the sergeant who drove them, both in May and August. They all talked. There was the driver, the aide, the commander-what did they say? 'The four of us went in and were told to drag out one person each-I heard that.' 'Martial law? We can do that two or three times.' All of this came out. Even if Kwack Jonggeun’s testimony is challenged, the rest of the witnesses’ statements are so consistent that it’s impossible to deny them. So why did Yoon do it? I think it was emotional. He’s now trying to portray Hong Jangwon and Kwack Jonggeun as liars.

Kim Junil: "Yoon Sukyeol has completely failed, both in public opinion and in court."

Kim Junil: People already knew Yoon Sukyeol drank a lot, but this made them even more disappointed, and even his supporters must be disappointed. Kwack Jonggeun, when pressed, reacted as well. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but didn’t Yoon say at the time that he would shoot Han Donghoon with a gun? So Yoon was like, 'Well, you know...' He couldn’t refute it. That has now become established fact. When people saw that, not only moderates but also his supporters-how would they have seen it? 'Our president is a tough guy, saying he’d shoot Han Donghoon?' Did they see it that way?

More likely, they thought, 'Isn’t he crazy?' This was a failure both in terms of public opinion and the trial-everything failed. When lawyer Yoon Gapgeun tried to speak, Yoon interrupted and insisted on talking himself. The lawyers should be making their arguments, but Yoon Sukyeol is interrogating people himself, acting like a prosecutor. Is this effective? I think it’s a disaster, and from now on, he won’t be able to say much more.

So Jongseop: Spokesperson Kang, what do you think about the credibility of former Commander Kwack Jonggeun’s testimony?

Kang Jeonae: But former Commander Kwack said he would say things at this hearing that he hadn’t said before. That’s a bit questionable. He’s appeared as a witness several times, including at the Constitutional Court, and the public has watched him since he gave that tearful interview in front of Yongsan. His statements keep changing. And this time, he suddenly made these statements in front of the former president, so I do have some doubts about the credibility of his testimony. In the end, I think it should be resolved by comparing the testimonies of others who were present.

Also, some say it wasn’t the kind of atmosphere where multiple people would talk about the political situation. From my perspective, people had a few drinks, and everyone knows the relationship with former leader Han Donghoon was bad, so it could have been a slip made in the heat of expressing anger about that. And if it turns out others didn’t hear such statements, then maybe former Commander Kwack was just confused after drinking.

Kwack Jonggeun, Commander of the Special Warfare Command, is attending the plenary session of the "Special Committee for the National Assembly Investigation on the Truth-Finding of the Insurrection Charges through the Declaration of Martial Law by the Yoon Seokyeol Administration" held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

"Kwack Jonggeun keeps changing his story, so credibility is in doubt; it could have been a mistake by Yoon or confusion by Kwack"

So Jongseop: For now, former President Yoon’s side is denying that such statements were ever made. Since the perspectives are divided, it’s quite a shock for the public just to hear about this. While everyone knew the relationship with former leader Han Donghoon was poor, some are surprised at just how bad it was.

Kim Junil: I’m not blaming Han Donghoon, but I feel that the imposition of martial law happened because of him. Why? From Yoon Sukyeol’s perspective, Han Donghoon was someone he mentored, made Minister of Justice, and appointed as interim party leader, but then he felt betrayed. So, personal feelings toward Han Donghoon ultimately played a role in the background of the December 3 martial law. Politically, what was happening then? There was controversy within the People Power Party about the party forum-anonymous posts on the party website criticizing Kim Keonhee, which some suspected were by Han Donghoon. At the time, pro-Yoon factions were saying things like, 'If this continues, we’ll push through a special prosecutor for Kim Keonhee.' That sense of crisis was felt. So, in the end, it was also about Han Donghoon. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. If martial law had succeeded, the first person to be summarily dealt with would not have been Lee Jaemyung or Woo Wonsik, but Han Donghoon. The sense of betrayal was that strong.

"If martial law had succeeded, Yoon would have dealt with Han Donghoon first"

Around October 1, what was Han Donghoon saying? Do you remember when Yoon Sukyeol met Han Donghoon at the presidential office? Han Donghoon said, 'Appoint a special inspector, remove Kim Keonhee’s close associates, resolve the medical crisis.' There was nothing wrong with what he said. But Yoon couldn’t tolerate it. Looking at this context, I really think Yoon wanted to kill him, whether with a gun or otherwise. If he had just managed his personal feelings, would it have come to this? I really think there was no other choice.