(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Bal-eum = Former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial on charges of being the leader of a rebellion and sentenced to death in the appeal trial, argued in his final argument, "You cannot discuss important matters such as martial law while drunk."
Former President Yoon's lawyers refuted the suspicion that he had been preparing for martial law for a long time at the appellate trial held on the 3rd at the Criminal Division 12-1 of the Seoul High Court (High Court Judges Lee Seung-cheol and Cho Jin-gu and Kim Min-ah).
Former President Yoon's side said, "The military commander's meal is a customary encouragement meal, and is at the level of an everyday meal or a club meeting, let alone the (martial law) plot claimed by the special prosecutor."
In particular, regarding the banquet held at the Minister of National Defense's official residence around November 9, 2024, he said, "The attendees were so drunk that it was difficult to have a conversation, so the former Commander of the Army Special Operations Command, Kwak Jong-geun, was speechless, and so was the former Commander of the Armed Forces Counterintelligence Command, Yeo Yeo-hyung."
Former President Yoon's side emphasized, "Martial law was a desperate choice by the president, the head of state, to inform the people of the catastrophic situation of the country," and added, "Even if the National Assembly wields tyranny with a majority of seats, there is no check."
Aiming at the ruling party's recent discussion of impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, he pointed out, "Now the sword of impeachment will be pointed at the judiciary as well, and it is becoming a reality," and "Even at the time, the president was trying to publicize anti-national corruption."
He also emphasized that martial law was announced through a live public address rather than a closed-door declaration, and said, "If it had been a pro-Wisdom coup, the military would have been sent rather than announcing it through a live broadcast."
Former President Yoon's side also denied the suspicion that he carried out a drone operation aimed at provoking North Korea to create a wartime situation, saying, "If it had been to create a wartime atmosphere, much stronger means would have been used, and this should have been used on a large scale to heighten the wartime atmosphere."
The so-called ‘Roh Sang-won Notebook’ also refuted, saying, “There is no connection whatsoever.”
Former President Yoon's side emphasized that he and former ROK Military Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won do not know each other and that "the graffiti by an unknown person is not the defendant's plan. The graffiti is only an imaginary scribble written after martial law and is not a pre-planned document."
In particular, he pointed out that the Supreme Prosecutor's Office (currently the Public Prosecution Office) and the Special Prosecutor's interpretation of the notebook are different, and that the Special Prosecutor's interpretation of the part as 'small flag' was interpreted by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office as 'subpoena'.
Regarding the 'Guardian Task Force (TF)' under the Armed Forces Counterintelligence Command, he explained, "It is not a martial law preparation organization, but a counter-terrorism unit following unit reorganization," and "Even just before martial law was declared, the TF had no preparations."
Former President Yoon's side criticized, "This incident was distorted by the Democratic Party, which should have been a civil war, by using what the media called, and the public is also distorting their understanding."
Former President Yoon's side's final argument will continue on the 5th.
Once the defendants' final statements are completed on the same day, the court plans to announce the date of the second trial.
Former President Yoon and others were arrested and indicted in January last year on charges of declaring martial law and causing a riot with the purpose of disrupting the national constitution.
In February of this year, the first trial found former President Yoon guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment, saying that his actions in sending the military to the National Assembly met the requirements of the crime of treason, which was 'for the purpose of disturbing the Constitution' and 'riot'.
On the 29th of last month, the special investigation team requested the death penalty for former President Yoon at the appellate court, saying, "Please issue the most stern ruling as prescribed by law so that the people's resistance is not in vain and a second Yoon Seok-yeol does not emerge."
