By Hyunsu Yim and Joseph Campbell
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean journalist Kim Ou-joon said he left his home and went into hiding minutes after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law last week in a televised announcement.
Fearing for his life, Kim said he had kept a low profile for 36 hours in a “remote” location, although Yoon lifted martial law on Wednesday morning after parliament rejected the proposal.
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“I thought I was going to die,” the actress told Reuters in an interview at her studio in Seoul as a guard stood outside.
While the majority of people were at the parliament, where hundreds of representatives and workers faced with police and special forces were sent to stop the vote on the announcement, it became clear that the soldiers also went to the election commission and Kim’s studio. night.
Part of the military’s martial law included declaring that the media should be brought under the control of the government, but Kim, who is left-leaning and anti-establishment, appears to be the only journalist targeted.
Video footage provided to Reuters by Kim’s News Factory studio shows at least 20 armed law enforcement officers arriving outside the studio building in central Seoul. However, he was at home, and it was not clear if soldiers had been sent there as well.
The station airs his weekday morning show on YouTube, and has approximately 1.8 million followers.
“Two buses, a truck and a command vehicle… and a few armed soldiers with cameras have arrived at the office,” Kim said. “It’s obvious the arrest team was working and they were trying to put their hands on our office.”
Hong Jang-won, a former deputy director of South Korea’s spy agency, testified to a parliamentary intelligence committee last week that Kim was among those facing arrest along with prominent politicians and federal officials, according to committee member Kim Byung-kee.
The head of South Korea’s military’s special forces said on Tuesday that Yoon had ordered him to “bring out” lawmakers from parliament after they declared martial law.
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South Korea has struggled to recover from the fallout from the president’s military coup but Kim Ou-joon said he hoped it would “further strengthen” the strength of South Korea’s democracy.
“Perhaps it is the only case in history where the parliament has lifted martial law after a few hours of citizens suspending the military.”
Critics have accused Kim Ou-joon of leaning towards the main opposition Democratic Party.
Kim said being open about her biases means the audience knows where she’s coming from.
He said that he had been doing the same thing for more than two decades, explaining the news to his audience, but that Yoon led the “worst administration” he had ever seen.
Last year, Kim moved his show to YouTube from state-backed TBS after the city-run Seoul city government took the money.
Under Yoon’s administration, South Korea has dropped from 47th to 62nd in the world press freedom index launched this year by Reporters Without Borders.
When asked why he thought he was being targeted by martial law, Kim said he thought it was “mine.”
Yoon survived an impeachment vote on Saturday when the majority of members of the ruling People Power Party walked out of parliament.
However, “it’s only a matter of time” before Yoon is stopped, Kim said.
“The impeachment has been delayed for a short time. No one can stop the power of these citizens and eventually Yoon Suk Yeol will be brought to justice,” he said.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)