Korean National Police leader Cho Ji-ho
According to Yonhap News Agency on December 13, citing well-informed sources, the above information was told by NPA leader Cho Ji-ho to the investigation agency during an interrogation about his role in implementing martial law promulgated by President Yoon. on December 3.
Mr. Cho is currently being detained awaiting the court’s decision on official detention for investigation. “Let’s gather them all. They violated martial law so let’s arrest them,” Mr. Cho recalled Mr. Yoon’s instructions.
Mr. Cho’s testimony is consistent with the testimony of military commanders at the congressional hearing. Mr. Cho claimed that President Yoon called him six times to order the arrest of lawmakers, mainly his political opponents.
The President of South Korea decided to ‘fight to the end’ to protect the decision to impose martial law
However, Mr. Cho did not pass the instructions down, because he thought “none of them made any sense”. Mr. Cho said that he did not record the above calls.
Mr. Yoon did not immediately comment on Mr. Cho’s above testimony.
In related developments, Yonhap on December 13 cited a survey conducted by Gallup Korea Company showing that the approval rate for President Yoon dropped to a record low of 11%.
The survey involved 1,002 people over 18 years old and was conducted from December 10-12. Positive ratings for Mr. Yoon decreased by 5 percentage points compared to the previous week, and is the lowest since he took office in May 2022.
Negative ratings for the leader also increased to a record level of 85%, of which 49% cited the reason he issued martial law and 8% were concerned about the economy.
Regarding the possibility of impeaching Mr. Yoon, 75% of survey participants supported it, while 21% opposed it. It is expected that the Korean National Assembly will vote on Mr. Yoon’s impeachment on December 14.
In another development, President Yoon on December 12 asked the National Assembly to approve his proposal to appoint Mr. Ma Yong-ju as a Supreme Court judge.
This is a move to exercise Mr. Yoon’s presidential powers, even though he has pledged to hand over work to the ruling People’s Power Party and the government, following the controversy over his promulgation of martial law.
