South Korea’s most dramatic political trial in decades took an extraordinary turn on Monday when a former special forces commander testified that Yoon Suk-yeol had directed the capture of political opponents so the ex-president could “shoot and kill them all” himself.
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The claim, delivered under oath at the Seoul Central District Court, stunned the chamber – marking a pivotal moment in a case testing the resilience of the country’s democratic institutions against the re-emergence of authoritarian impulses once thought buried.
Analysts say the revelation has deepened a sense of national reckoning over Yoon’s failed attempt to impose martial law last December and threatens to undermine his defence against insurrection charges.
Kwak Jong-keun, who commanded elite military units on the night of the martial law decree, told the court that Yoon, 64, had ordered him to “bring key political opponents” so the former president “could shoot them himself”.
You said you yourself would shoot and kill them all
Yoon – wearing a dark blue suit without a tie, a prisoner’s badge pinned to his chest and his silver-streaked hair undyed – appeared visibly shaken by the allegation, observers said.
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