Seoul: the ousted chief of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, argued that his brief declaration of martial law at the end of last year was “not a coup” because he appeared on Monday before the court for the start of a criminal trial concerning the accusations he had led.
The attempt at martial law, which lasted approximately six hours before Yoon fell in the face of parliamentary opposition and public demonstrations, plunged the country into months of unrest and led the Constitutional Court which withdrew it from the presidency this month for violation of constitutional powers.
After leaving his house on a motorcycle on Monday, Yoon, who denied all the accusations against him, entered the Central District Court of Seoul wearing a dark navy costume and a red tie.
At the start of the procedure, the prosecutors presented their case by arguing that Yoon did not have the legal reason to declare martial law and accused him of having tried to paralyze state institutions such as parliament.
“The accused … prevented the constitutional institutions from exercising their authority on the basis of an illegal declaration,” said the accusation.
Yoon, who was the chief prosecutor of the country before becoming president, defended himself in court, speaking at length to refute the allegations of the accusation.
“Martial law is not a coup,” said Yoon.
He denied paralyzing the government and declared that martial law was necessary to alert the people to the way the majority opposition party was the government of Stonewalling by dismissing more than 20 civil servants, which he considered dangerous.
“It was a” martial law of the message “peaceful to the nation … I knew that this martial law would end in half a day, one day,” said Yoon.
Yoon said that although he communicated this intention of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun, the military officials who were ordering seemed to have exceeded him because they were used to martial law in various directives.
Insurrection fees
Two higher military officers took the positions of the witnesses in the afternoon.
The two, including Cho Sung-Hyun of the defense of the defense of the capital of the army, said that they had been ordered by their superior officer to send troops to “drag” the legislators outside the parliament during the martial law of Yoon.
Yoon denied this allegation, saying that he had not given such an order.
The declaration of the martial law, which cited the need to eliminate the “anti-state” elements, was lifted after the members of parliamentary personnel used barricades and fire extinguishers to remove soldiers from special operations who try to enter Parliament, where legislators voted to reject martial law.
The accusation of the brain of insurrection confronted by the head dismissed is liable to a perpetuity or even death imprisonment, although South Korea has not executed anyone for decades.
The declaration of the Martial Law of Yoon, on December 3, shocked the South Koreans and created chaos in all areas of society, the economy and the foreign policy, said the Constitutional Court during the decision to withdraw it from its functions.
The upheaval has further exposed deep social rockets between the conservatives and the liberals and increased pressure on the institutions and the military, who had found themselves in a dilemma on the opportunity to enforce martial law.
The former president returned to his private house on Friday from the official residence, the crowds of conservative supporters presenting themselves to greet his procession.
Yoon returned with his wife and their pets in their apartment, just a few hundred meters from the Court of Seoul where he marked major legal victories as a prosecutor, as to condemn another president dismissed Park Geun-Hye.
He remains provocative and undertook to “stay next to it” of his supporters. The opposition Democratic Party criticized Yoon on Monday as delusional for not having made sincere excuses.
The country will now hold an early election on June 3. Questions remain on the question of whether Yoon could still play a role.
