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Lee defends 'carrot-and-stick' approach to rooting out martial law abettors, rewarding civil servants

Published: 16 Nov. 2025, 13:34 Updated: 16 Nov. 2025, 17:04

President Lee Jae Myung's post on social media platform X [SCREEN CAPTURE]

President Lee Jae Myung defended the government’s simultaneous push to identify public officials involved in the Dec. 3 martial law declaration while also improving civil servants’ working conditions as a carrot-and-stick strategy.

Lee used an ancient proverb, “sinsang pilbeol,” which is translated to mean “rewarding merit and punishing wrongdoing.”

“Surely no one is arguing that we should only hand out punishments or only give out rewards,” said President Lee, posting on social media platform X on Sunday. “Overcoming an insurrection and encouraging active administration are both necessary tasks.”

He cited a news article that criticized the government for sending a mixed message to public officials by announcing plans to both search for officials who helped former President Yoon Suk Yeol declare martial law, along with plans to award public officials who excel in their work.

In a Cabinet meeting presided over by Lee on Tuesday, the government approved the creation of a “government innovation task force for constitutional integrity” to investigate public officials who allegedly took part in the martial law attempt by former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“With the martial law trials and investigations dragging on, the reality is that efforts to overcome the insurrection have stalled,” said Prime Minister Kim Min-seok last Tuesday.

“We shouldn’t rely solely on a special counsel,” responded Lee. “This is something we need to carry out on our own,” throwing his support behind the launch of the task force.

With the plan to root out those involved in the insurrection already causing significant unease across the civil service, the presidential office last Wednesday announced a set of measures aimed at improving the treatment of public officials.

“Public officials who save lives through personal sacrifice or achieve exceptionally outstanding results will receive an unprecedented reward of up to 30 million won [$20,700],” presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said last Wednesday.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG, CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]