Former President Yoon Suk-yeol completely denied the charges of being an 'insurrection mastermind' during his first official trial on the 14th.
In court that day, Yoon stated regarding the emergency martial law on Dec. 3, "It was a non-violent incident that was lifted a few hours later after accepting the National Assembly's request for its lift, and the fact that the prosecution framed it as an insurrection is legally incorrect." The emergency martial law on Dec. 3 was lifted six hours after Yoon declared it.
The trial that day was held at the Seoul Central District Court Room 417 for about six hours, starting at 10 a.m. The prosecution first presented the facts related to the insurrection mastermind charge against Yoon for about an hour using PowerPoint (PPT).
Following this, Yoon's lawyer, Yoon Gab-geun, made statements denying the charges, saying, "There was no attempt to blockade the National Assembly or to arrest or detain key figures without a warrant."
◇Yoon: 'Emergency martial law conspiracy is a comical story'... spoke for a total of 93 minutes
During the trial that morning, former President Yoon spoke for 42 minutes and for 51 minutes in the afternoon, totaling 93 minutes, which was more than the 9 minutes his lawyer spoke.
Yoon said, "The emergency martial law on Dec. 3 was a non-violent incident lifted within a few hours, so the charge of insurrection cannot be applied." He then requested the court to display again the PowerPoint that the prosecution had presented, pointing out the necessary pages as he methodically denied the charges.
Yoon noted, "Many people made statements while receiving investigations from the investigative agencies in a unilateral manner, and many of these were impeached in the Constitutional Court, revealing the facts, but this was not reflected at all," adding, "The parts where initially frightened people made statements under the inducement of the investigation agencies were listed in the indictment without verification."
Yoon also remarked, "It is a comical story to say that there was a conspiracy to declare martial law since last spring," and continued, "During the martial law, I instructed military personnel not to issue live ammunition and to avoid conflicts with civilians. It was a peaceful message to the public regarding martial law."
Yoon stated, "Martial law and past military coups are different," asserting, "The declaration of martial law was to protect free democracy, while military rule and coups undermine democracy." He added, "Simply equating martial law with coups and insurrection is a departure from legal judgment," emphasizing, "I have never even considered utilizing our military for military rule or coups."
After the break, the afternoon trial resumed at 2:15 p.m., where Yoon again denied the prosecution's claims one by one.
As Yoon's statements concluded, lawyer Yoon Gab-geun said, "The indictment of this case is based on illegal procedures and should be dismissed," adding, "It is not specified when or what kind of conspiracy occurred, or what the president instructed, thus it is an illegal indictment hindering the defendant's right to defense." He continued, "We need to proceed with another preparatory hearing to reorganize the issues and evidence."
In response, Yoon said, "Even after 26 years of being a prosecutor, I can't understand what the indictment is really about, what is being claimed, and why this is deemed to be insurrection under what logic. It's difficult for the court to understand the logic behind this. It seems like a mosaic of various documents were put together."
◇Cho Seong-hyeon and Kim Hyeong-ki are examined by the prosecution... Yoon: 'Don't understand the order, political intent'
On that day, the prosecution conducted witness examinations of Director General Cho Seong-hyeon of the Capital Defense Command and Colonel Kim Hyeong-ki of the Special Warfare Command.
The prosecution first asked Director General Cho, who was listed as a witness, if he had indeed received orders from former Army Commander Lee Jin-woo on Dec. 4 to enter the headquarters and pull the lawmakers outside, to which he replied, "Yes."
Then the prosecution inquired whether it was true that he testified in the Constitutional Court that he heard from this commander, 'The Special Forces will bring out the lawmakers,' and Director General Cho affirmed, "It is true. I have no reason to fabricate it."
To this, Yoon remarked, "I think I saw the prosecution's questions in the Constitutional Court." Although the court said, "We will give you the opportunity for counter-examination," Yoon replied, "I won't be conducting the counter-examination; however, there are many parts I do not understand regarding whether it was urgent for the witness to come out today, given that they were already examined in the Constitutional Court, with reporters present, and this seems to have a significant political motive." He noted that the court had initially planned to conduct witness examinations of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Tae-yeol, but it was changed due to scheduling issues.
The prosecution also examined Colonel Kim Hyeong-ki. When the prosecution asked him, "Did you receive orders from Colonel Lee Sang-hyun of the 1st Airborne Brigade of the Special Forces to enter the National Assembly and pull out the lawmakers, saying, 'Break down the door and pull them out even if you have to break the door, this is the president's order, even cut the electricity'?" he responded, "Yes, that's correct."
Additionally, when the prosecution inquired whether the troops were armed at the time they departed, he confirmed, "That's correct." When asked if he was aware that live ammunition for rifles was loaded in the command vehicle, he said, "I learned about it during an interview (after the emergency martial law was lifted) that 500 rounds of live ammunition were loaded."
In response, Yoon remarked, "There is no military anywhere in the world that moves with only unloaded guns," stating, "When I said not to arm, I meant not to provide live ammunition for personal firearms individually. I wanted to clarify this as it could be misunderstood."
Meanwhile, Yoon's side decided not to conduct cross-examinations of Director General Cho and Colonel Kim due to issues in the proceedings that day, and to hold them during the next trial.
The second trial date for this case is set for 10 a.m. on the 21st.