Former President Yoon Suk-yeol argued in the early hours on the 14th at the sentencing hearing in the case over charges of leading an insurrection that the special counsel investigating the insurrection case's indictment was unjust, saying martial law was imposed for only "a few hours, and they branded it as an insurrection." He also called the special counsel investigating the insurrection case's indictment "delusion and fiction."
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25 (presiding judge Jee Kui-youn) held a sentencing hearing at 9:30 a.m. on the 13th on charges that the former president led an insurrection and that seven people, including former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, engaged in key insurrection duties. 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, the former president began his final statement on the Dec. 3 martial law, saying, "Martial law for only a few hours. It was probably the shortest martial law in modern history, but they branded it as an insurrection, and every investigative agency in the country rushed in to investigate, even creating a massive special counsel to probe it."
Regarding the special counsel investigating the insurrection case's indictment, the former president argued it was "delusion and fiction that do not align with objective facts or basic legal common sense." He added about the special counsel investigating the insurrection case's investigation, "I also handled investigations and trials for 26 years in the past," and said, "There was no chain of command, and instead of investigating, they manipulated and distorted with the sole goal of calling it an insurrection."
The former president justified declaring martial law by claiming that, in concert with anti-state forces, regime-subversion forces, and external forces infringing on sovereignty, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea manipulated public opinion with false agitation, drove a wedge between the public and the government, carried out an unconstitutional National Assembly dictatorship, collapsed constitutional governance, and paralyzed state affairs, pushing the country into a crisis of national ruin.
He went on, "I declared martial law to inform the public of this national emergency and to appeal for people to join in overcoming it," adding, "The special counsel claims I staged a praetorian coup to pave the way for long-term dictatorship through constitutional amendment; present the political scenario for that."
Responding to the special counsel team's claim of a "long-term dictatorship," the former president said, "Even properly finishing a single term leaves one out of breath; how on earth could I do a long-term dictatorship?" and added, "Even if I were asked to, I couldn't."
The former president said only a small number of troops were sent to the National Assembly and that they carried firearms without live ammunition. He also repeated "election fraud" claims regarding the deployment of martial law troops to the National Election Commission, such as the allegation that fake ballots were found. He further argued there was no riot with the purpose of undermining the constitutional order required to establish the crime of insurrection.
The former president cited as a reason for declaring martial law the Democratic Party of Korea's impeachment of Choi Jae-hae, then head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and Lee Chang-su, then head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. He said, "Mr. Choi Jae-hae is an audit expert and a nonpolitical person appointed under a Democratic Party administration," adding, "They obstructed audits into the National Election Commission hiring corruption case and the leak of classified information on THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) through impeachment."
He continued, "They pushed to impeach the (Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief) to pressure and line up prosecutors investigating their corruption," adding, "Faced with this ruinous National Assembly dictatorship, I believed we had no choice but to sound the emergency bell to the sovereign people."
The Dec. 3 martial law was declared on a Tuesday during a regular National Assembly session. The former president said, "Many people say, 'Why not on a weekend or after the session ended?'" and added, "If you're going to do it, do it openly. If the National Assembly wants to lift martial law, let it."