S. Korea's Yoon Ignored Cabinet Opposition to Martial Law

Yoon Suk Yeol plunged the country into political chaos on December 3 with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in his residence. Philip FONG / AFP
Yoon Suk Yeol plunged the country into political chaos on December 3 with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in his residence. Philip FONG / AFP
TT

S. Korea's Yoon Ignored Cabinet Opposition to Martial Law

Yoon Suk Yeol plunged the country into political chaos on December 3 with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in his residence. Philip FONG / AFP
Yoon Suk Yeol plunged the country into political chaos on December 3 with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in his residence. Philip FONG / AFP

South Korea's suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol ignored the objections of key cabinet ministers before his failed martial law bid last month, according to a prosecutors' report seen by AFP on Sunday.
Yoon plunged the country into political chaos on December 3 with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in his residence, surrounded by hundreds of security officers resisting arrest efforts.
The full 83-page prosecution report to indict former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun said the country's then prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister all expressed reservations the night of the decision.
They made their concerns clear about the economic and diplomatic fallout in a cabinet meeting, which Yoon called before his short-lived power grab.
"The economy would face severe difficulties, and I fear a decline in international credibility," then prime minister Han Duck-soo told Yoon, according to the report seen by AFP.
Han became acting president after Yoon was stripped of his duties, but was also impeached by opposition MPs who argued he refused demands to complete Yoon's impeachment process and to bring him to justice.
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul reportedly said martial law would have "diplomatic repercussions but also destroy the achievements South Korea has built over the past 70 years".
Acting president Choi Sang-mok, also finance minister, argued the decision would have "devastating effects on the economy and the country's credibility".
Despite the objections, Yoon said "there is no turning back", claiming the opposition -- which won a landslide in April's parliamentary election -- would lead the country to collapse.
"Neither the economy nor diplomacy will function," he reportedly said.
An earlier summary of the report provided to the media last month revealed Yoon authorized the military to fire their weapons to enter parliament during the failed bid.
The suspended president's lawyer Yoon Kab-keun dismissed the prosecutors' report.
He told AFP the indictment report alone does not constitute an insurrection and "it doesn't align legally, and there's no evidence either".
Yoon remains under investigation on charges of insurrection and faces arrest, prison or, at worst, the death penalty.
The Constitutional Court slated January 14 for the start of Yoon's impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.
The court may take the prosecutors' report on Kim -- one of the first indicted over the martial law bid -- into consideration.



Over 12,300 Civilians Killed since Start of Ukraine War, UN says

A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
TT

Over 12,300 Civilians Killed since Start of Ukraine War, UN says

A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

More than 12,300 civilians have been killed in the Ukraine war since Russia invaded nearly three years ago, a UN official said on Wednesday, noting higher casualties in recent months amid the use of drones, long-range missiles and glide bombs, according to Reuters.

"Russian armed forces intensified their operations to capture further territory in eastern Ukraine, with a severe impact on civilians in frontline areas, particularly in the Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions," Nada Al-Nashif, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement, referring to developments since September 2024.

"We are deeply concerned by the impacts on civilians of the increased use of drones and the use of new weapons," she added, referring in part to Russia's use of highly destructive guided bombs or glide bombs in residential areas.