Former President Yoon Suk-yeol entering the courtroom with a resolute expression in July. Yonhap News

Park Phil-kyu, Editorial Writer·Korea Military Academy Class of '40A verdict on 'insurrection' is expected in January of next year. An actual insurrection did not even occur. No country has ever labeled martial law as an insurrection. There were no gunshots, nor was the National Assembly physically paralyzed, yet immediately after martial law was declared, the ruling party and politicians used the term 'insurrection' to target political opponents, leading the nation into a state of confusion and sowing discord among the public. History will later record the 'insurrection panic' of 2025, a dark age orchestrated by the ruling party controlling four branches of government.

The command behind the scenes, planning and orchestrating this 'insurrection panic,' remains unknown. However, it is clear that a cartel of 'citizens' and the ruling party, along with the special prosecutor for insurrection, are at the center of these actions. We wish to inform the special prosecutor, the court, and the public that propaganda, linguistic confusion, and united front tactics are hidden within the creation and progression of this 'insurrection panic.'

1. Insurrection Panic and Propaganda/Mobilization Tactics – To Be Judged by the People's Awakening

Propaganda and mobilization utilize fear, a force with more destructive power than facts. They undermine and threaten individual freedom and the market economy through divisions based on class, generation, and region, through security arguments framed around peace, and by controlling media and education. Those who orchestrate propaganda and mobilization amplify minor threats or invent exaggerated enemies if none exist. When fear overwhelms reason, the majority of the public, unaware of being politically manipulated, becomes subdued by the logic of fear presented by the orchestrating forces. Fear self-perpetuates and reconstructs truth in reverse.

The attempt to frame martial law as an insurrection began with the public humiliation of the martial law leadership through National Assembly hearings. It then escalated to labeling approximately 3,000 soldiers involved in martial law as insurrectionists, causing them disadvantages in promotions and assignments, and even demoting specific officers. Ministers and public officials from the previous administration were implicated as co-conspirators in the insurrection. This was accompanied by indiscriminate communication interceptions and the consideration of 750,000 public officials for communication surveillance, with accusations that "anyone who says it wasn't an insurrection is a supporter of insurrection." President Lee Jae-myung stated that crimes of state violence related to the December 3rd emergency martial law must be punished to the end, like Nazi war criminals. This is a fabrication of dichotomous political conflict, a spread of fear, and a declaration of war on the people. The fabricated insurrection narrative has been exposed as involving perjury, lies, and coerced testimony. The insurrection panic must be judged by the awakening of the people.

2. Linguistic Confusion Tactics of Insurrection Panic – To Be Judged by the Judiciary's Justice and Awakening

When political conflict intensifies, totalitarian planning forces first seize control of language. Repeated terms come to dominate perceptions of reality, irrespective of their factual basis. Particularly when words with strict legal meanings, such as 'insurrection,' begin to be misused, they transform into tools to pressure the judiciary. If charges are exaggerated during a trial, judges become more conscious of the political fallout than legal principles. The moment it is implied that judges could be punished for acquitting, the judiciary devolves into a subordinate organ of politics.

The ruling party is pushing for the establishment of a 'specialized insurrection court' and is considering transferring existing trials to special tribunals from the second instance. While the term 'special tribunal' sounds like it strengthens fairness and the 'realization of justice,' it is, in reality, a totalitarian concept aimed at guiding and concluding martial law cases through political judgment.

The moment that an insurrection, in its legal sense, is transformed into political rhetoric, those indicted by the special prosecutor for insurrection become 'forces destroying the state.' The vaguer the reality, the stronger the fear becomes. When ensnared by the linguistic encirclement tactics, which are verbal maneuvers without the use of arms, the review of emergency martial law is definitively labeled a 'state subversion attempt,' and ministers, public officials, and soldiers alike are broadly defined as 'forces supporting insurrection.'

The arbitrary use of language and linguistic confusion tactics, without directly attacking institutions, distort public sentiment contrary to facts and undermine the credibility of the judiciary and auditing bodies. As exaggerated crises converge and the political sphere projects greater fear, it impedes the sound judgment of the public and erodes the health of the national system. Before the orchestrators of the insurrection narrative can conclude the insurrection panic, the judiciary must awaken, and the truth of fraudulent elections must be revealed to judge the real insurrectionist forces.

3. Insurrection Panic and United Front Tactics – To Be Judged by the Great Unity of Free Democratic Forces

The 'insurrection panic' political climate is taking on the aspect of a regime war. Under the guise of 'upholding constitutional order' and 'cleansing deep-rooted evils,' the real insurrectionist forces are attempting to dismantle the existing order and construct a new regime by pursuing prosecutorial and judicial reforms, seizing control of media and education, conducting SNS public opinion warfare, engaging in anti-American and pro-North Korean discourse mobilized by civic groups, and expanding state intervention. They create enemies to strengthen internal cohesion within their camp and employ typical united front tactics to isolate and dismantle opposing factions.

Despite the head of the Unification Church confessing to the corruption of all politicians, both ruling and opposition, in his testimony in August, the special prosecutor for insurrection, in particular, has swiftly arrested opposition figures while excluding statements related to the ruling party from the investigation. This can be viewed as a practical example of political united front tactics.

President Lee Jae-myung, caught in a dilemma, stated that "religious organizations that violate the Constitution and laws must be dissolved," directly mentioning the possibility of dissolving the Unification Church. This is interpreted as an extreme measure that designates religious organizations as targets for eradicating insurrection, a strategy to induce internal political cohesion and emotional support. If a religious organization that received money is subject to dissolution, are not all political parties that received money also subject to dissolution? Before this series of irrational statements escalates into political civil war, it must be judged by the great unity of free democratic forces, and trials must be resumed.

4. Stop the Insurrection Panic That Destroys the Nation Through Judicial Justice

The judiciary, facing the verdict on 'insurrection,' must deliver a just ruling – that 'martial law cannot be an insurrection' – based on law and conscience, so that the 'insurrection panic' forces can no longer package an unsubstantial crisis as a national catastrophe and further confuse public sentiment.

A just ruling must end the emotional 'insurrection panic,' the anti-state 'insurrection mongering,' and the 'insurrectionary regime' that exhausts the people. Then, the Republic of Korea must be placed back on the solid foundation of normalization. We expect and urge the Republic of Korea to be revived through a just ruling by the judiciary.

Editorial Writer, Hankyoreh Shinmun