Former President Yoon Suk-yeol appeared at the Court-martial on the 18th and said, "I feel sorry for the people who did their jobs according to the decision I made, and I prayed a lot until late at night after returning to the detention center."
Former President Yoon appeared as a witness at the Court-martial in Yongsan, Seoul, on the morning of the day for the trial of former Special Warfare Commanding General Gwak Jong-geun, former Counterintelligence Commanding General Yeo In-hyeong, former Capital Defense Commanding General Lee Jin-woo, and former Defense Intelligence Commanding General Moon Sang-ho on charges of engaging in important duties related to insurrection. Asked, "Many, including the defendants, are being detained and suffering; do you have a position on this?", Yoon said, "It is truly regrettable," and stated accordingly.
Former President Yoon, dressed in a suit, took a seat at the witness stand. In the defendants' seats, former Commanding General Gwak, former Commanding General Yeo, former Commanding General Moon, and former Commanding General Lee sat in that order. No supporters were seen inside the courtroom or around the Ministry of National Defense building.
As the trial began, former President Yoon said, "Because prosecutors abuse indictments for perjury, I will, in principle, refuse to testify to any question," but he answered some questions. In particular, Yoon repeated his previous position that, because the Dec. 3 emergency martial law was carried out for a short time, it was to appeal to the public for awareness.
Yoon said, "We imposed martial law as a concept of beating the drum to the public about the nation's perilous situation," adding, "I thought that no matter how long it went, it could not last even half a day or a day." He went on, "Other than former Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, I did not instruct anyone to review or prepare (the declaration of martial law)," and argued, "The push on Dec. 2 to impeach the president of the Board of Audit and Inspection became the decisive trigger for ordering preparations for the declaration of martial law."
When the side of former Commanding General Yeo asked, "After hearing at the Samcheong-dong safe house in June last year that former President Yoon mentioned emergency prerogatives, we expressed concern," Yoon said, "It seems he drank quite a bit. Judging from the excessive action of even kneeling," and added, "I don't think I remember well either. I was drunk and don't remember, but since he says so, I'm leaving it at that. Please understand it that way."
Former President Yoon also flatly denied the indictment's claim that he colluded in advance with the military leadership on martial law.
On the background of appointing former Commanding General Yeo In-hyeong, a high school junior, as the Counterintelligence Commanding General before martial law, Yoon said, "I appointed him because I heard he had extensive experience in counterintelligence investigations and was a capable operations expert," adding, "Even if he is a high school junior, I had not seen him before then. The idea that this appointment was made with martial law in mind is utter nonsense."
Former President Yoon was summoned as a witness on the 25th of last month but failed to appear, citing health and preparation for his own trial, and was fined.