On Nov. 8, 2022, then-President Yoon Suk-yeol pays a visit to Bongeun Temple in Seoul’s Gangnam District. (courtesy presidential office)
Investigators have secured testimony that disgraced former President Yoon Suk-yeol demanded the loyalty of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as far back as November 2023. Investigators are currently looking into suspicions that Yoon was attempting to nail down the loyalty of the military leadership for the martial law scheme that he was already mulling.“We have confirmed through our questioning of Kim Myung-soo that martial law was already in the works in November 2023,” said Kim Ji-mi, deputy special counsel, in a press conference on Monday afternoon at the Gwacheon office of the special counsel probe carrying out follow-up investigations of pending cases from three separate special probes related to Yoon.Kim Myung-soo served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from November 2023 to September 2025. In a statement given to investigators, Kim Myung-soo reportedly said that Yoon asked him during a meeting at his presidential residence on Nov. 29, 2023, whether Kim would do whatever Yoon asked. Kim was interrogated on May 27 on suspicion of carrying out important duties in service of Yoon’s insurrection.Kim reportedly told Yoon in response that he “would be loyal to orders as long as they are legal and legitimate.”In apparent dissatisfaction and anger, Yoon slammed his fists on the table and harassed Kim with rough language such as, “If you’re going to be like that, just put a bullet in my head!”The date of this conversation (Nov. 29, 2023) was just one day after the death by self-immolation of Ven. Jaseung, the former head of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Yoon had called in not only Kim Myung-soo but other top security officials at the time — including Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, Presidential Security Service director Kim Yong-hyun, national security adviser Cho Tae-yong, and Yeo In-hyeong, the head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command — to share his suspicions of communist involvement in the monk’s death.The special counsel team plans to bring in Yoon himself at 10 am on Saturday to question him about suspicions that he sent messages to the US and other countries after the martial law declaration in an attempt to justify his shocking actions.The special counsel team plans to make footage of Yoon stepping out of the police van and entering the office available to the public. However, Yoon’s attorneys said that these matters “are still being deliberated and haven’t been confirmed.”Ahead of their session with Yoon, investigators on Monday brought in Cho Tae-yong, who later served as head of the National Intelligence Service, to question him about allegedly conveying messages to the CIA seeking to justify the martial law declaration.By Im Cheol-hwi, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
