The Ministry of National Defense building [Photo by Park Hae-muk]
The Ministry of National Defense building [Photo by Park Hae-muk]

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the revocation of military decorations awarded to 76 individuals whose merits were tied to the Dec. 12 military mutiny, the suppression of the May 18 pro-democracy movement, and service under the emergency martial law declared at the time.

The Defense Ministry had previously canceled the Chungmu Military Merit Medals awarded to 10 key participants in the Dec. 12 mutiny in March. It subsequently identified 76 additional individuals who had received military decorations unlawfully or improperly between 1980 and 1981, and moved to cancel those honors as well.

Of the 76, 42 individuals decorated for contributions to national security were found to have received their honors on the basis of fabricated merits — the cancellation standard set out in Article 8 of the Awards and Decorations Act — and were also found to have bypassed the required Cabinet deliberation process. The Defense Ministry determined that the remaining 34, decorated for martial law service, likewise met the legal threshold of fabricated merits.

The ministry said the emergency martial law had been judicially confirmed as an act of insurrection and subversion of the constitutional order, and that work carried out by the martial law command and its subordinate units amounted to aiding the new military faction's illegal seizure of power — grounds that preclude recognition as legitimate decorated service.

"We will continue to verify whether any other decorations were granted unlawfully or improperly in the past," the ministry said, "and will pursue revocation without exception whenever fabricated merits or procedural violations are confirmed, in order to uphold the integrity and fairness of the honors system."


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