Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's side filed a motion to recuse the bench at the first trial in the "Pyongyang drone allegation" case, which deals with the crime of aiding the enemy.
On the 12th, at the first trial for the general aiding-the-enemy charges against Yoon, former Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyung, held before the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 36 (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-yeop), Yoon's side stated this position. All the key defendants, including former President Yoon, appeared in court that day.
The court verified the defendants' identities and decided on whether to hold a jury trial, then switched the proceedings to a closed session. It said that was because state secrets were expected to be exposed.
After the proceedings moved behind closed doors, Yoon's side orally filed a recusal motion with the bench. In a notice to the press, Yoon's defense team said, "At a stage where only the indictment has been submitted and no evidence examination has taken place, proceeding with the trial while keeping the defendant in custody is, in light of basic principles of criminal trials and courtroom practice, an extremely unusual and unreasonable measure."
They also said the court used a suspect interrogation record and statements—whose admissibility had not been determined—submitted by the special prosecutor as materials to review detention. "This strongly suggests the court is proceeding with the trial after already forming a preconceived view of the charges," they said.
Yoon's side also noted that starting in March, the court set three to four court hearing dates per week, saying, "For former President Yoon, who has been indicted in more than eight cases and must undergo trials consecutively, such scheduling makes it difficult for a detained defendant to effectively exercise the right to defense."
Former Minister Kim's defense team also filed a recusal motion, arguing that the court issued a detention warrant without having been served the indictment, and said, "Expecting a court that issued a warrant based solely on the indictment to conduct a fair trial is foolish."
When a recusal motion is filed, a different panel typically decides whether it is justified. However, if it is deemed clearly intended to delay proceedings, the panel in charge may issue a summary dismissal immediately. When a recusal motion is filed, proceedings must be stayed unless a delay is obvious or the motion violates jurisdictional rules.
The Pyongyang drone allegation centers on a claim that in Oct. 2024, former President Yoon sent a drone to Pyongyang to heighten military tensions with North Korea and then sought to use that as grounds for emergency martial law. Yoon and others are accused of deploying a Pyongyang drone to the Drone Operations Command around Oct. last year. The special prosecutor concluded that general aiding-the-enemy charges apply because the drone deployed at the time crashed near Pyongyang, leaking military secrets such as operations and capabilities.