hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol declares martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024. (courtesy of the presidential office)

A former military officer turned civilian appears to have created a private organization composed of former and current senior figures in Defense Intelligence Command to select elite agents to be mobilized for the Dec. 3 insurrection attempt.
 
The planning and execution of the events of Dec. 3, unfathomable to the Korean public, were only possible because the military obeyed the indefensible instructions of a secret organization led by President Yoon Suk-yeol.
 
Eyes clouded by the desire to seek personal gain in the form of promotions and possessed by the irrational belief that election fraud was rampant in South Korea, these people betrayed their country and crossed a line that should never be crossed. Responsibility for the military’s tragic downfall ultimately falls to Yoon.
 
According to the Hankyoreh’s reporting on Friday, Roh Sang-won, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Command, instructed two colonels in the command who had close ties with him to select 35 lieutenant colonels and majors from the 820 Counterintelligence Unit, excluding those from the Honam region southwestern Korea, in preparation for the martial law declaration.
 
Their mission was to enter the National Election Commission at dawn on Dec. 4, kidnap 30 key workers, and take them to the Capital Defense Command’s B1 Bunker.
 
Roh, a civilian, was able to carry out such a thing due to the immense power to appoint people that was given to the so-called “Choongam High clique,” which includes the president himself and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
 
The soldiers who were given these instructions appear to have believed that if they carried out the orders of one of Kim’s close confidants, they would be able to easily climb their way up the ranks. As this misconception spread through the military, proper lines of command were paralyzed, leading to 1,500 troops marching into the National Assembly and elsewhere.
 
This is exactly how graduates of the eighth class of the Korea Military Academy, with Kim Jong-pil at the helm, piloted the May 16, 1961, coup and Hanahoe — a secret society led by graduates of the eleventh class of the Korea Military Academy including Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo — led the coup of Dec. 12, 1979.
 
Decisions made by the military, which has a monopoly on force in our country, are influenced by two factors: capabilities and objectives.  
 
When we consider the military’s capabilities, it remains the only group that could possibly carry out similar situations in the future. The only way to prevent the military from acting on such objectives is to strengthen civilian control over the military.
 
Up until now, there had been a belief that the South Korean military, which has grown with our country’s democracy, was capable of disobeying orders that it deemed unjust. But only the soldiers who were foisted into the field lived up to this notion. Through thorough investigations and strict punishments, Korea needs to uproot secret societies and private organizations that prioritize their own interests within the military.

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