Now a defendant, Yoon again claims martial law was public message

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on Monday, defending himself against the prosecution’s claims that his declaration of martial law amounted to an act of insurrection.

Yoon, formally removed from office by the Constitutional Court earlier this month, said his martial law decree on Dec. 3, 2024, was a “message to the public,” not an act of insurrection.

“Martial law was declared to clearly let the public know about the country’s desperate situation. This is different from martial law in the past, which was aimed at imposing military rule. It was made to protect freedom and democracy. Military coups and (military) rule destroy freedom and democracy,” said the former president at his first criminal court appearance since the Constitutional Court ruling.

The hearing continued as the prosecution outlined the charges and argued that Yoon’s imposition of martial law constituted an attempt to disrupt the constitutional order, a violation punishable under Article 87 of the Criminal Act.

The article stipulates that a “person who creates violence for the purpose of usurping national territory or subverting the Constitution shall be punished.”

According to the prosecution, Yoon appointed Kim Yong-hyun, former head of the Presidential Security Service, as defense minister in early September 2024 — almost three months before martial law was imposed — to prepare for the martial law declaration.

But the former president rejected the allegation, claiming that martial law is something the government always needs to be prepared for.

“This is the reason why South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff has a division which handles martial law. It conducts exercises on imposing martial law in case of a possible national emergency. I am aware of regular martial law-related drills conducted by the Capital Defense Command and the Defense Counterintelligence Command as well,” said Yoon.

Prosecutors accused Yoon of attempting to disrupt the constitutional order by deploying military personnel to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission. They claimed that the former president considered a range of measures to arrest key politicians without warrants, to block entry to the National Assembly, and to create a new legislative body under the emergency martial law decree.

While speaking about multiple opposition-led bills to impeach high-ranking officials and to downsize the state budget, Yoon said he could no longer ignore the situation, arguing that state affairs were paralyzed and the Constitution had been breached.

The former president argued that his decision to exercise presidential authority was within the boundaries of the Constitution.

Yoon is the fifth former president to face a criminal trial.

After 10 of Yoon’s legal representatives took their seats, Yoon entered the courtroom at 9:50 a.m. — 10 minutes before the start of the trial — in a navy suit, white shirt and dark wine-colored tie, which resembled his attire in the third hearing of the impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Jan. 21.

Though Yoon remained silent when the judge tried to verify his identity by asking his name, date of birth and occupation, he spoke for the first time in court to state his residential address.

Yoon sometimes whispered to Yoon Kab-keun, one of his lawyers, when the prosecutor claimed that the former president intended to obstruct parliament’s vote to lift martial law.

After listening to the prosecution’s statement, which took a little over an hour, Yoon rejected the allegations.

“I sent martial law troops to the NEC to inspect the way its servers are being managed since I previously received reports from the National Intelligence Service that the NEC’s server had major vulnerabilities. I never ordered military personnel to search or seize the server without a warrant,” Yoon said.

The ousted president emphasized that he did not send martial law troops to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea headquarters, its offices or a local polling agency called Flower.

Yoon also insisted he tried to minimize the deployment of military personnel to maintain public order and to prevent possible accidents after the martial law declaration.

Monday’s hearing was held in a manner that reduced Yoon’s public exposure both outside and inside the courtroom.

The former president entered the court building via an underground parking lot before the hearing Monday morning, as the court previously granted him underground…