Legal professionals for Yoon Suk Yeol have informed a courtroom in Seoul that the impeached president declared martial regulation in late 2024 to forestall the nation turning into a “legislative dictatorship” managed by his political opponents.
The declare got here as Yoon grew to become the primary South Korean president to face trial in a legal case, introduced over his short-lived declaration of martial regulation in early December.
Yoon, who attended Thursday’s listening to at Seoul central district courtroom however didn’t communicate, is accused of fomenting revolt with the martial regulation order. The crime of revolt carries a protracted jail sentence and, theoretically, may entice the dying penalty, although South Korea has not carried out an execution since 1997.
Yoon’s lawyer, Kim Hong-il, condemned the “illegal probe” in opposition to the suspended president, arguing the “investigating body has no jurisdiction”.
“The declaration of martial law was not intended to paralyse the state,” Kim mentioned on the listening to, which ended after simply 13 minutes.
He mentioned the martial regulation order had meant to “alert the public to the national crisis caused by the legislative dictatorship of the dominant opposition party, which had crippled the administration” – a reference to the Democratic occasion, which has a majority within the nationwide meeting.
Yoon, a 64-year-old ultra-conservative who grew to become president in Could 2022, has been in jail since he was arrested final month after tense standoffs between the authorities and his private safety element.
There was heavy safety across the courtroom constructing on Thursday, with the Yonhap information company reporting that about 3,200 cops had been mobilised.
Prosecutors have accused Yoon of being the “ringleader of an insurrection”. He has been suspended since parliament voted to question him in mid-December.
His attorneys have condemned the legal investigation as illegitimate and challenged the legality of his indictment, arguing that it was inside his energy as head of state to declare martial regulation. They informed reporters final week that it was “an act of governance and cannot be subject to judicial review”.
Afterward Thursday, Yoon additionally attended a parallel impeachment trial within the constitutional courtroom that has entered its last part. The courtroom’s appearing chief justice, Moon Hyung-bae, mentioned the subsequent listening to could be held on 25 February, throughout which Yoon and the parliament, which is presenting the case in opposition to him, will give last remarks.
Yoon’s future hangs within the steadiness. If the constitutional courtroom sides with parliament, he might be completely faraway from workplace and a brand new president elected inside 60 days.
Witnesses testifying to the constitutional courtroom on Thursday, included the prime minister, Han Duck-soo, who has additionally been impeached and awaits the courtroom’s choice on his destiny.
“I am deeply burdened by the despair that each and every one of our people felt due to such extreme politics that took place before, during and after emergency martial law,” Han mentioned. “All procedures dealing with the emergency martial law must be carried out fairly and reasonably … so that there is no further spark of national division.”
A lot of Yoon’s impeachment trial has centred on the query of whether or not he violated the structure by declaring martial regulation, which is supposed to be reserved for nationwide emergencies or occasions of battle.
His decree lasted solely round six hours because the opposition-led parliament defied troops to vote it down. Nevertheless it has plunged Asia’s fourth-biggest financial system into months of political turmoil, with protests, two presidential impeachments and a surge of on-line disinformation by Yoon’s supporters.
The following listening to in Yoon’s legal case is schedule for twenty-four March.
