National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik on the 19th said of the first-trial ruling that sentenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol to life imprisonment, "The legal judgment that the Dec. 3 emergency martial law was an insurrection has been repeatedly confirmed," adding, "The principle has become even clearer that any power can be exercised only within the framework of the Constitution and the law."
After watching the sentencing hearing broadcast live at the National Assembly that day, Speaker Woo met with reporters and said, "I hope former President Yoon Suk-yeol will at least now repent for the wrongdoing and offer a sincere apology to the people."
However, Speaker Woo added, "It is regrettable that the failure of the insurrection was considered grounds for mitigation, and that the cause of the failure was not poor preparation but the fact that the National Assembly and the people joined forces to resist and stop it," calling it "a disappointing ruling in that respect."
Speaker Woo stressed, "Now we must stop deepening our society's division and conflict with claims that deny or distort the basic order of the democratic republic."