Former Army Chief of Staff Chung Seung-hwa being forcibly taken away by the New Military Group from his official residence during the December 12 military insurrection in 1979, on his way to be interrogated.

Vehicles carrying investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), tasked with executing an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, wait at the entrance to the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on January 3, 2025. [Photo=Yonhap News]

It is the Lee Jae-myung regime and Democratic Party supporters who have confusingly inverted and distorted the history of the December 12 and May 18 incidents. How is the Lee Jae-myung regime’s special counsel on insurrection any different from the New Military Group of 1979? 

“The special counsel summoned former Army Legal Affairs Office Chief Kim Sang-hwan as a suspect today to question him regarding charges of attempted participation in a key insurrection mission. Former Chief Kim is accused of boarding a group bus bound for Seoul from the Army Headquarters at Gyeryongdae to assist in the formation of the Martial Law Command on the day martial law was declared.” (Excerpt from the disciplinary notice for high-ranking officers involved in the Dec. 3 emergency martial law: Editor’s note)

In this world, merely boarding a group bus is enough to make one a suspect. If that is the case, let us re-examine the actions of Chief of Staff Chung Seung-hwa on the day of the October 26 incident using the same criteria. 

Around 16:00: Kim Jae-gyu invites Chung to dinner three hours later, at 7:00 PM. Chung immediately accepts.

19:00: Kim Jae-gyu does not appear at the meeting place; instead, Deputy Director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency Kim Jeong-seop shows up and dines with him.

19:10: Kim Jae-gyu drops by briefly in his shirt sleeves and asks for understanding while he steps away from the table.

19:45: A series of gunshots ring out nearby. They are heard from just a few hundred meters away.

“When I said to Mr. Kim Jeong-seop, ‘That sounds like gunfire,’ he replied, ‘I understand,’ stood up abruptly, went out to check, and came back saying, ‘I have contacted the police substation to verify and report it immediately. It will be nothing.’ I didn't pay much attention to it because the area is on the outskirts of the Blue House security compound, which, as everyone in the security service knows, is a very heavily guarded area. If there was gunfire on the outskirts, I assumed it must have been something involving the security detail. Since he said he would look into it, I took his word for it and continued my meal.” - Testimony of Chung Seung-hwa to the May 18 Investigation Committee 

Despite the gunshots being clearly audible, Chung continued his meal calmly. As they were having wine for dessert, Kim Jae-gyu returned to Chung in a state of great urgency—so frantic that he was seen drinking water directly from the spout of a pitcher, a highly abnormal sight.

“When I asked, ‘What is going on?’, he said, ‘Let’s talk while we ride in the car,’ so we got in the car together.” - Testimony of Chung Seung-hwa to the May 18 Investigation Committee

Kim Jae-gyu wasn't even wearing shoes, just socks. Though it looked suspicious to anyone, Chung let him into the car and traveled with him. During the transit, he heard directly about the president’s death.

“Raising his thumb, he said, ‘That gentleman has passed away.’ I was startled and asked, ‘Oh, how did he pass away?’ He said he had been shot. When I asked, ‘Who did it?’, he said he was ‘too flustered to know.’” - Testimony of Chung Seung-hwa to the May 18 Investigation Committee

Chung headed to the Army Headquarters with Kim Jae-gyu. After directing Kim to the Chief of Staff’s office, he went to the situation room to take emergency measures following the president's passing.

An emergency cabinet meeting was held at the Ministry of National Defense. At this meeting, Kim Jae-gyu strongly demanded the declaration of martial law and argued for over two hours, while cabinet members countered by insisting that they needed to see the body personally.

“Because he insisted on declaring martial law unconditionally without revealing the details, we argued for a long time before he eventually conceded. Even then, we felt we couldn't trust his admission, so we decided to go verify it ourselves. Kim Jae-gyu was so... we went directly to the military hospital to verify it.” - Testimony of Shin Hyon-hwak to the May 18 Investigation Committee 

Around 23:30: With the declaration of martial law delayed, Chief Presidential Secretary Kim Gye-won summoned Chief of Staff Chung Seung-hwa and Defense Minister Noh Jae-hyun and finally revealed the truth.

“Defense Minister Noh Jae-hyun joined our group on his way out, and as soon as the three of us sat down, Mr. Kim Gye-won said, ‘The culprit is Kim Jae-gyu!’” - Testimony of Chung Seung-hwa to the May 18 Investigation Committee 

Kim Jae-gyu was not arrested until four hours after the incident. During these four hours, Kim Jae-gyu shouted and pushed his agenda at the emergency cabinet meeting, and, effectively, Chung Seung-hwa had bought him time. Kim Jae-gyu intended to install Chung as the Martial Law Commander. That is not all. On the day of December 12, it was revealed that Chung had received 3 million won from Kim Jae-gyu.

“He said, ‘Chief, a situation has arisen where we need your testimony on the Kim Jae-gyu case. That is why I am here. We need to record it.’ I asked, ‘What is it about?’ He said, ‘They say you received money, right?’ and then, ‘Chief, you received quite a bit of money.’ I replied, ‘Yes! I did receive 3 million won, is that what this is about?’ Then I asked, ‘Did you bring recording equipment?’ He said, ‘You will have to come to where the recorder is set up.’” - Testimony of Chung Seung-hwa to the May 18 Investigation Committee 

The current standard is that simply riding a group bus makes one an insurrection suspect. If we apply the same yardstick, shouldn't Chief of Staff Chung Seung-hwa—who rode in the same car as the power player who assassinated the president, delayed his arrest, and even received money from him—naturally be considered a suspect as well? Can we call the arrest of Chung Seung-hwa a coup by 2026 standards? 

Our values are in utter chaos because all standards of common sense and the rule of law have been inverted. Perhaps Lee Jae-myung and his Democratic Party supporters, who calibrate the scales of justice to suit their own political interests, are the true followers of Chun Doo-hwan.

◆ Author Kim Sung-min

Digital creator, lives by the sea, a pre-dawn cyclist.