Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's side, put on trial over allegations of exerting outside pressure on the investigation into a Marine who died in the line of duty, denied all charges.
The 27th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong, Director General judge) opened the first trial on the 29th for former President Yoon, who was indicted on charges including abuse of power.
Yoon's side said it denies everything stated in the indictment. It said the account that Yoon flew into a rage has no substance and noted that former President Yoon did not know Lim Seong-geun, the former 1st Marine Division commander, at all, so there was no motive to interfere in the investigation.
They said they merely raised a question, as legal professionals, about whether charges could be applied up the chain of command. They explained that former President Yoon had no authority to direct a specific case investigation. They also repeated the argument that the abuse of power charge cannot stand.
Former President Yoon also said directly, "The Marine Corps Investigation Unit has no authority to investigate military death cases," and added, "Even if it conducts inquiries, it is not to punish for things that happened in the past." He added that it is to prevent similar incidents and to take measures against those who did wrong.
He also said, "If I raised my voice, it was to Im Gi-hoon (former presidential secretary for defense)," adding, "Even if the Marine Corps Investigation Unit conducts an investigation, would the president get angry over how capable it is?"
Former Office of National Security Director Cho Tae-yong; former Ministry of National Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup; former Vice Minister Shin Beom-chul; former legal affairs director Yoo Jae-eun; former military aide Park Jin-hee; former prosecutor corps chief Kim Dong-hyuk; and former Marine Corps Commandant Kim Gye-hwan, who were also brought to trial, all denied the charges.
The court decided to conduct witness examinations on the 13th of next month for former Marine Corps Investigation Unit chief Park Jeong-hun and former national security director Cho.