尹 “Martial law is for the purpose of a long-term dictatorship? It is one of the long-term goals of a president who is crazy and difficult” (comprehensive)

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-seup = Former President Yoon Seok-yeol again supported the declaration of martial law on December 3, saying in court on the 27th, "The only thing that could be done in a national crisis was emergency martial law."

Regarding the investigations he led as Prosecutor General during the Moon Jae-in administration, he said, "I thought it was to protect the elected government."

Former President Yoon made this remark while being interrogated by the defendant at the appellate trial of the alleged leader of the rebellion held on this day in the Criminal Division 12-1 of the Seoul High Court (High Court Judge Seung-cheol Lee, Jin-gu Cho, and Min-ah Kim).

In response to a question from the defense team regarding the background to the declaration of martial law, he replied, "I thought, now I really have to say something politically about the opposition party's actions," and "I had no other choice."

When the lawyer mentioned that the approval rating that fell immediately after the declaration of martial law recovered after the '4th address to the nation', he said, "As the people sympathized with me to a great extent, I think that if the impeachment had been dismissed by the Constitutional Court, I would have been able to run state affairs with less interference."

When the court asked, 'It is easy to predict that running state affairs will become more difficult after the martial law is lifted, is there any real benefit to declaring martial law?', former President Yoon said, "It may be more difficult for me personally to be attacked, but I thought I should now fight against the crossfire."

He added, "Seeing (the opposition party) impeaching career civil servants and the Board of Audit and Inspection like that, what will people think of this government? I was prepared to stop them in the crossfire. Martial law is the only thing that can be done in a state of emergency called a national crisis."

He also reiterated his claim that he was not trying to take over state institutions, but was just trying to inform the public of the opposition party's violence by declaring martial law.

When the defense lawyer pointed out, 'The special prosecutor's claim that the defendant staged a coup by destroying the constitutional order runs counter to the beliefs and values ​​that the defendant has publicly stated,' former President Yoon said, "Acts that destroy a free society must be responded to in the way of a free society. If you respond in a communist way, you are destroying freedom yourself."

In addition, he said he did not declare martial law for the purpose of establishing a long-term dictatorship, and protested, "Being president was a difficult position, and I thought I would not be able to live up to my mandate if I continued for more than five years."

It was also claimed that the martial law declaration was issued to prevent chaos by placing a psychological burden on the crowds expected to flock to the National Assembly at the time.

When former President Yoon was asked by the Special Prosecutor's Team whether he was aware of the unconstitutionality of the proclamation that prohibited political activities and warrantless arrests and search and seizure, he replied, "The contents were not erased to prevent protesters from entering the National Assembly." He added, "Does this have much meaning since martial law will soon be lifted? Of course, it is not effective."

When the court pointed out, "It appears that the police exercised so-called 'secondary control' over the National Assembly based on the proclamation, can it be said that there is no possibility of enforcing the proclamation?" Former President Yoon argued, "At the time of the proclamation, I had no idea that the police would be deployed, and when I said that the police needed support from outside, I had completely forgotten about the proclamation."

On this day, former President Yoon answered questions from the defense team about his national views and beliefs and defended the investigations he led as Prosecutor General during the Moon Jae-in administration.

When asked about his feelings when receiving the letter of appointment as Prosecutor General from former President Moon, he replied, "I was grateful that (former President Moon) gave me a chat and told me to investigate those in power who are still alive."

He continued, "I thought that prosecutors were not meant to shake up the elected government, but to protect the government by resolutely eliminating corruption around them," and "During the Moon Jae-in administration, a lot of judicial action was taken against senior secretaries and others, and I thought that actually helped the government and gave the public confidence that it would follow its principles."

Former President Yoon also mentioned that then-Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae excluded the Prosecutor General's authority to lead the investigation into the so-called 'Channel A incident' and said, "I thought that power had been privatized, and I thought I could no longer serve (as the Prosecutor-General)."

The lawyer continued to ask questions such as, "Tell me what you remember from the dinner table conversation with your father about the relationship between state power and individual freedom.", "During your law studies, you said that the constitutional system and order came from the Bible. What does that mean?", "You chose Milton Friedman's 'Freedom to Choose' as the book you read that impressed you the most. How did you read it?"

When the lawyer asked, "I passed the bar exam in eight times, why did I not give up and kept trying?" the judge stopped him, saying, "Please keep the questions and answers brief as this is far from the reason for the appeal in this case."

At the end of the newspaper, former President Yoon expressed his thoughts by mentioning the content of his conversation with his spouse, First Lady Kim Kun-hee.

He explained, "When I was going through hardships after the Cho Kuk incident investigation, my wife said, 'You can just throw the case away and enjoy the position of president. Why are you attached to political power? You're not an idiot.'" He explained, "After martial law, I heard countless times, 'Why should the large opposition party enjoy the position of president anyway? They're crazy and making you suffer like this?'"

He continued, "But I don't do what I should (I can't get over it). Even when investigating the NIS comment case, I said, 'How can we cover this up? What will happen to me as a criminal of history?'" He added, "I don't know if I would have gone on to become president because I've lived like that."

The court plans to conclude the defendant's examination of former Minister Kim Yong-hyun on this day and hear the special prosecutor's final argument at the trial on the 29th.

Previously, the first trial court found former President Yoon guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment, saying that his actions of declaring martial law and sending the military to the National Assembly met the requirements for the crime of treason, namely, 'the purpose of disturbing the Constitution of the Republic of Korea' and 'riot.'