Court Cancels 2-Month Suspension of Counterintelligence Colonel Who 'Passively Responded' to Martial Law

A court has ruled to cancel the disciplinary suspension of Colonel Yu Jae-won, former head of the cybersecurity department at the Defense Security Command, who instructed his team members to wait after receiving orders to deploy to a polling agency operated by broadcaster Kim Ou-joon during the December 3 emergency martial law.

This marks the first lower court ruling on a lawsuit filed by a military officer challenging disciplinary action taken by the Ministry of National Defense in connection with the martial law.

The 14th Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Lee Sang-duk) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Colonel Yu against the Ministry of National Defense to cancel the disciplinary action on September 17.

In December of last year, the Ministry of National Defense imposed a two-month suspension on Colonel Yu, stating that he violated the duty of sincerity under the State Public Officials Act by deploying to Research Institute Kkokkoc, operated by Kim Ou-joon, who has a liberal lean, despite the National Assembly's resolution to lift the emergency martial law.

The court determined on this day that the disciplinary grounds were not recognized, stating it is difficult to view that Colonel Yu deployed with the intention of executing an unlawful order.

The court noted that since Colonel Yu ordered his team members to wait rather than deploy, it is difficult to see that he had the intention to carry out the superior's directives.

The ruling detailed Colonel Yu's actions on December 4, 2024.

At around 12:10 AM that day, Colonel Yu received an order from former Defense Security Command 1st Director Jung Sung-woo (Brigadier General) to deploy to Research Institute Kkokkoc and retrieve servers, but raised objections alongside other department heads who also received deployment orders, stating that "legal review is necessary."

Colonel Yu then summoned his team members and relayed the order, but when the team members objected that the order was unlawful, he accepted it and suspended personnel deployment.

Around 1:00 AM, after the National Assembly's resolution demanding the lifting of the emergency martial law was passed, Colonel Yu received an order from former Director Jung to "deploy for now, but wait at a distance."

Thinking it could become problematic, Colonel Yu attempted to go to the scene alone, but some team members joined the deployment. While waiting near the south end of Jamsu Bridge at around 1:50 AM, he instructed his team members, "Wait at your current location and do not enter under any circumstances."

Colonel Yu and his team members withdrew and returned to the base at around 2:35 AM in accordance with former Director Jung's order.

The court stated, "If the plaintiff truly intended to carry out the directive, he would have promptly organized the available forces under his command and deployed all of them, but the plaintiff acted otherwise."

The court added that while "firmly refusing an unlawful order from a superior is considered an ideal stance for a soldier," it is difficult to expect every soldier to offer resolute insubordination given that their respective situations and perceptions varied.

It further stated, "Even if one cannot frontally reject an unlawful order, one can fail to properly cooperate with the unlawful order through methods such as delaying or reducing its implementation, preventing subordinates from participating, or effectively avoiding the execution of the order, and this cannot be evaluated as having forsaken one's mission as a soldier."

Following the ruling, the Ministry of National Defense stated, "We plan to decide whether to appeal after reviewing the verdict."

Initially, the Ministry of National Defense Disciplinary Committee decided that there were "no grounds for discipline" regarding Colonel Yu, but upon a "request for re-examination by the disciplinary authority," the committee reconvened and decided on heavy disciplinary action.

Last November, Colonel Yu appeared as a witness at the first-instance trial of former President Yoon, where he stated, "Please make sure to record in the official record that the Defense Security Command, which is cited as the main culprit of the December 3 martial law... also had elements within it that resisted."

(Photo: Provided by the Ministry of National Defense, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.