Special Investigation Team Claims Former President Yoon Misled Foreign Media

The Special Investigation Team probing the insurrection case has concluded that former President Yoon Suk-yeol misled foreign media by falsely claiming that the state of emergency was justified, which they believe constitutes an abuse of power. According to the arrest warrant application obtained on July 6, the team asserts that Yoon, facing political and judicial crises after the lifting of the state of emergency, decided to disseminate false information through the overseas public relations secretary of the presidential office. The intent was to mislead both domestic and international criticism by portraying the declaration and enforcement of the state of emergency as legitimate and lawful.

On December 4, 2022, shortly after the state of emergency was lifted, Yoon reportedly called the overseas public relations secretary to draft a press guidance (PG) document, which was then distributed to foreign media outlets. The PG allegedly included statements such as acknowledging the requirement for a majority of National Assembly members to lift the state of emergency but failing to control their access to the National Assembly, and asserting that actions were taken within a constitutional framework to uphold democratic order.

The Special Investigation Team has deemed all the contents of the PG as false. They stated that Yoon declared the state of emergency without a proper cabinet meeting and failed to follow the notification procedures required by law, thus violating constitutional and legal requirements. They concluded that since the PG was false, the overseas public relations secretary was not obligated to follow Yoon's directives.

Despite this, the team claims that Yoon abused his authority by instructing the creation of the false PG and subsequently contacting foreign journalists from agencies such as AP, AFP, ABC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Kyodo News to relay this information. He also sent the PG to a deputy spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for further distribution to foreign media.

Based on these findings, the Special Investigation Team believes that Yoon committed an abuse of power by compelling the overseas public relations secretary to undertake actions that were not within their obligations.