Former President Yoon Suk-yeol argued in the sentencing hearing in the early morning on the 14th in the case on charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection that the special counsel investigating the insurrection case's indictment was unjust, saying of the emergency martial law, "They branded a few hours of martial law as an insurrection." He also called the special counsel investigating the insurrection case's indictment "delusions and fiction."
The Criminal Agreement Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Jee Kui-youn) opened a sentencing hearing at 9:30 a.m. on the 13th on charges that the former president was the ringleader of an insurrection and that seven people, including former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, engaged in important duties related to the insurrection. The special counsel investigating the insurrection case sought the death penalty for the former president and life imprisonment for the former minister.
After the sentencing recommendations, taking the stand for his final statement, the former president said of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law, "Martial law that lasted only a few hours. It was probably the shortest martial law in modern history, yet they branded it an insurrection, and every investigative agency in the country rushed in to investigate, even setting up a massive special counsel to investigate."
Regarding the indictment by the special counsel investigating the insurrection case, the former president claimed it was "delusions and fiction that do not match objective facts or basic legal common sense." He added about the special counsel investigating the insurrection case's probe, "I also handled investigations and trials for 26 years," and said, "There was no chain of command, and with the predetermined goal of calling it an insurrection no matter what, they engaged not in investigation but in fabrication and distortion."
The former president defended declaring emergency martial law by claiming that "the Democratic Party of Korea, in collusion with anti-state forces, regime-subverting forces, and forces seeking to encroach on sovereignty from outside, manipulated public opinion with false agitation, sowed discord between the people and the government, carried out an unconstitutional National Assembly dictatorship, collapsed constitutional order, and paralyzed state affairs, putting the country on the brink of national ruin."
He continued, "I declared emergency martial law to inform the people of this national emergency and to appeal to them to join in overcoming it," adding, "The special counsel says I staged a praetorian coup to pave the way for long-term dictatorship through constitutional revision; present a political scenario for that."
In response to the special counsel team's claim of a "long-term dictatorship," the former president said, "Even properly finishing the term was breathless—how on earth could I carry out a long-term dictatorship?" and added, "I couldn't do it even if told to."
The former president claimed that only a small number of troops were sent to the National Assembly and that they carried firearms without live ammunition. He also repeated claims related to "election fraud" regarding the deployment of martial law troops to the National Election Commission, saying, among other things, that fake ballots had been found. He further argued that there was no riot with the purpose of subverting the constitutional order, which is required to establish the crime of insurrection.
As a reason for declaring emergency martial law, the former president cited the Democratic Party of Korea's impeachment of then Board of Audit and Inspection chief Choi Jae-hae and then Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief Lee Chang-su. He said, "Choi Jae-hae is an audit expert and a nonpolitical person appointed under the Democratic Party government," adding, "They obstructed audits into the National Election Commission hiring scandal and the leak of classified information on THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) through impeachment."
He added, "They pushed to impeach the (Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief) to pressure and line up prosecutors investigating their own corruption," and said, "In the face of this ruinous National Assembly dictatorship, I thought there was no choice but to sound the alarm to the people, the sovereign."
The Dec. 3 emergency martial law was declared on a Tuesday during a regular National Assembly session. The former president said, "Many people ask, 'Why didn't you do it on a weekend or after the session ended?'" and added, "If you are going to do it, do it openly. If the National Assembly wants to lift martial law, let them."