section_path: Background/Warnings of a plot to declare martial law
section_name: Warnings of a plot to declare martial law
paragraph_text: Warnings of a plot to declare martial law
  
  In October 2021, years before the declaration of martial law, Yoon made complimentary remarks about the former authoritarian military dictator of South Korea, Chun Doo-hwan. The remarks came during a meeting with People Power Party officials in Busan, during which Yoon said that "many people still consider Chun as having done well in politics, except the military coup and the Gwangju Uprising", later adding that he believed even people in Honam, the geographic area including Gwangju, felt the same way.
  
  In September 2024, three months before the martial law declaration, some DPK politicians began suggesting that Yoon was preparing martial law. Party leader Lee Jae-myung alluded to "speculation about martial law preparations" in his remark, saying that Yoon appointing Kim Yong-hyun as Defense Minister was a part of a martial law strategy to prevent Kim Keon-hee from going to prison. Kim Min-seok, member of the party's Supreme Council, stated "I have well-founded reasons to believe that the conservative Yoon administration is drawing up a contingency plan to declare martial law". The Presidential Office dismissed this claim as "groundless". People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho also denied the possibility of martial law, saying "Such theories... are no more than scare tactics and propaganda based purely on imagination".
  
  Kim Min-seok justified his prediction of a martial law declaration by Yoon, by adding, he was "one of the people who obtained information and reported that the government was preparing to invoke martial law during the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye " in 2016, despite denials by the Park government at the time. A document was produced in secret by the Defense Security Command (now the DCC) in February 2017 that considered invoking martial law in anticipation of continued street protests if Park Geun-hye was not removed by the Constitutional Court. The 67-page document titled "Wartime Martial Law and Joint Action Plan", contained specific plans including mobilizing tanks to suppress candlelight protests in Gwanghwamun in the event that the impeachment of Park was dismissed, and arresting and detaining lawmakers to prevent the National Assembly from reaching the quorum required to lift martial law if lawmakers attempted to do so (similar to the martial law plans of 2024). Several South Korean Ministers of National Defense have had major roles in either martial law or self-coups, with the most notable examples being Song Yo-chan; who declared martial law and demanded the resignation of President Syngman Rhee, and Chung Ho-yong; who had complicity in the Gwangju Uprising. During his confirmation hearing for Minister of National Defense at the National Assembly on 2 September 2024, Kim Yong-hyun was asked by members of the opposition as to whether he would declare martial law or recommend Yoon to do so. He dismissed this, saying "I think talk about martial law is out of date; if it is declared, who would accept it? Do you think the military would even follow the order?" Kim was also questioned on his close personal ties with Yoon. Yoon and Kim have known each other since high school, however DPK lawmaker Choo Mi-ae claimed at the hearing that they have known each other since elementary school. Kim took office as Minister of National Defense on 6 September. Over the following three months, he allegedly planned military rule under martial law.
  
  Following the botched martial law implementation, Kim Min-seok cited the Yoon administration's usage of the term "anti-state forces", and Yoon appointing his fellow Chungam High School alumni as high-ranking figures in his administration and the military, as indications of Yoon's ulterior motive for martial law. He added that Yoon's government "is so bad at governance that they have no way of preventing their replacement other than martial law, terrorism, and mobilizing the legal system against their opponents".
  
  Documents obtained by Choo Mi-ae showed that the DCC had prepared documents and other related material on declaring martial law following orders from its commander, Lieutenant General Yeo In-hyung, in November 2024. Police investigators also found that Defense Intelligence Command chief Major General Moon Sang-ho, his predecessor, Roh Sang-won and former military police commander of the 3rd Field Army Command Kim Yong-gun also met at a Lotteria fast food restaurant in Ansan on 1 December to discuss preparations for the declaration.
  
  The "Chungam faction" whom Yoon appointed to high ranking positions and cited as having a role in the martial law declaration were:
  
  If Park An-su is part of the Chungam faction is unknown.
  
  The Chungam faction has been compared to the Hanahoe faction of former dictator Chun Doo-hwan and his successor Roh Tae-woo.