Park Sun-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed on December 10th that there was a “second-day plan” related to the “12.3 Martial Law Incident.” In a CBS Radio interview, Park stated, “People thought it was over once the demand to lift martial law was approved at 1:02 am, but President Yoon Suk-yeol, Martial Law Commander Park An-su, then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyeon, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Myung-soo, and Deputy Chairman Jeong Jin-pal were all watching from the underground command center of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” He added, “Additional instructions were immediately issued.”
Park explained that orders went out through the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s command and control system, instructing the 7th Airborne Brigade in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, and the 13th Airborne Brigade in Jeungpyeong, Chungcheongbuk-do, to prepare for immediate deployment. He described this as part of the second-day plan and expressed serious concern over it, although he noted that no actual deployment occurred due to the lifting of martial law.
Additionally, Park asserted that as early as March of this year, martial law preparations were underway, citing meetings at the residence of former Minister Kim while he was head of the Presidential Security Service with figures such as Counterintelligence Commander Yeon In-hyeong, Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun, and Capital Defense Commander Lee Jin-woo.
Park also accused National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong of lying when he claimed he never received orders from President Yoon to arrest politicians. Park argued, “Director Cho reported on the passage of martial law at a cabinet meeting. President Yoon wouldn’t have called him for no reason; there must have been some instruction.”