Probe calls martial law ‘insurrection from above’

Feb 13, 2026, 07:58 am

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Yoon Chang-ryeol, head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, announces the findings of the Constitutional Respect Government Innovation Task Force at the Government Complex Seoul on Feb. 12.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination announced Thursday that it has requested disciplinary action against 89 officials and referred 110 others for criminal investigation, concluding that the Dec. 3 illegal declaration of martial law amounted to an “insurrection from above.”

Yoon Chang-ryeol, head of the office, unveiled the findings of the Constitutional Respect Government Innovation Task Force (TF) at a press briefing held at the Government Complex Seoul.

“The Dec. 3 illegal martial law was an ‘insurrection from above,’ backed by an execution plan designed to mobilize government functions in a comprehensive manner,” Yoon said.

He added that decisions and directives initiated at the highest levels of power were transmitted not only to the military and police, which possess coercive force, but also to multiple related agencies, posing a real threat to constitutional order.

“There was a structural failure to filter out unconstitutional and illegal instructions delivered to central administrative agencies,” Yoon said.

Following its investigation, the TF called for heavy or light disciplinary measures against 89 individuals, including 48 military officials and 22 police officers. Others subject to disciplinary requests include two officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, three from the Foreign Ministry, two from the Justice Ministry, four from the Interior Ministry, three from the Culture Ministry, two each from the National Fire Agency and the Korea Coast Guard, and one from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

The task force also recommended warnings or cautions for 82 individuals and formally requested criminal investigations into 110 people.

The TF was established in November last year across 49 central administrative agencies. After receiving reports and finalizing investigation tasks, it concluded its activities on Jan. 16.

Actual investigations were conducted in 20 agencies. Agencies among the 49 that were found to have no relevant investigation tasks ended their activities late last year, officials said.

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