South Korean investigators have asked prosecutors to indict detained President Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief imposition of martial law last month, to which the country's ousted defense minister testified that he wanted a broader military deployment than Yoon.
Yoon again defended his actions when he appeared at the hearing for the second time on Thursday, arguing that the Dec. 3 martial law decree was only intended to inform the public about the danger posed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly. He argued that the introduction of martial law ended early because he quickly withdrew troops after the assembly rejected his decree.
“The reason for imposing martial law was not a warning to the opposition. I tried to appeal to the public to exercise strict supervision and criticism of the opposition,” Yoon said at the hearing before the Constitutional Court. “No matter how many warnings I gave to the opposition, they would be useless.”
On December 14, Yoon was impeached and suspended by the assembly. The Constitutional Court is currently considering whether to formally expel Yoon from office or reinstate him.
Kim Yong Hyun, Defense Minister Yoon at the same hearing, supported the president's argument, claiming that he was the one who drafted the decree and proposed it to Yoon.
Kim, a close ally of Yoon who is also in custody, claimed that Yoon asked him to remove the curfew from the decree, deploy far fewer troops to the gathering than he initially proposed, and ban soldiers from carrying live ammunition.
“Yes,” Kim replied when asked by Yoon's lawyers whether the president had rejected the defense minister's recommendation to mobilize all military units stationed in Seoul.
Kim confirmed that he also proposed sending some units to the headquarters of the opposition party and a leftist electoral company.
Kim's statements could not immediately be independently verified. He has already said that the entire responsibility for imposing martial law rests solely with him. He was stopped from attempting suicide while in custody, a few days after the unfortunate introduction of martial law.
Since taking office in 2022, the conservative Yoon has faced near-constant friction with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, hampering his agenda and disempowering some of his top officials. Declaring martial law, Yoon called the gathering a “den of criminals” that obstructed government affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korean supporters and anti-state forces.”
President accused of abuse of power
Martial law in Yoon, the first of its kind in South Korea in more than 40 years, lasted only six hours. Yoon sent soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly, but enough lawmakers managed to enter the assembly hall and unanimously called for the emergency decree to be lifted.
Yoon and Kim said he sent soldiers and police to maintain order. However, the opposition and investigative authorities believe they tried to seal the assembly to prevent lawmakers from repealing his decree and planned to arrest some politicians. Yoon and Kim denied this.
During the testimony, Yoon could be seen occasionally nodding to Kim.
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested and questioned by authorities on Wednesday in connection with an investigation into the uprising. He said he was only cooperating with what he called an illegal investigation to avoid violence. An estimated 3,000 police officers were dispatched to President Yoon's compound and brought wire cutters and ladders.
Earlier on Thursday, the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO) said that Yoon, in cooperation with Kim and other military commanders, allegedly committed sedition by staging “riots” and trying to undermine the constitution by imposing martial law. The CIO also accused Yoon of abusing his power by mobilizing troops for an illegal purpose and obstructing parliament's vote on ending martial law.
Under the law, the leader of a rebellion could face life imprisonment or the death penalty. Since his arrest by the CIO, Yoon has rejected all attempts to question him. He claims that the investigation and his arrest are illegal.
“As you know, despite his nationally serious allegations as a leader of the rebellion, the suspect has consistently refused to cooperate and defied criminal proceedings,” Lee Jae-seung, deputy chief prosecutor at the CIO, said in a televised briefing. .
Yoon's defense team released a statement accusing the CIO of “humiliating” Yoon by trying to pressure him to talk to investigators and abusing his human rights by preventing him from contacting family members.
In his first appearance Tuesday at a hearing before the Constitutional Court, Yoon denied that he had ordered the military to pull lawmakers out of the National Assembly to prevent them from voting. Commanders of military units sent to the assembly testified that Yoon ordered them to withdraw the lawmakers.
Yoon's martial law decree has rocked South Korean politics and financial markets and damaged its international image. Yoon's subsequent opposition and opposition efforts to oust him also deepened South Korea's already serious internal division.