▲ Former Korea Policy Broadcasting (KTV) Director Lee Eun-woo leaves the courtroom after his first-instance sentencing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on June 26.
Former Korea Policy Broadcasting (KTV) Director Lee Eun-woo, who was indicted on charges of instigating insurrection in connection with the December 3 emergency martial law, denied the charges during his first trial.
The 38th Criminal Settlement Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Choi Young-gak, Chang Sung-jin, and Jung Soo-young) held the first preparation hearing for Lee on the 9th.
While preparation hearings are procedures to discuss evidentiary plans prior to full-scale trials and do not require the defendant's attendance, Lee appeared in court today.
Lee's legal representative denied the indictment, arguing that the crime of instigating insurrection does not apply.
Lee's side argued, "There were comprehensive instructions to organize and partially delete content that differed from KTV's broadcasting tone," adding, "The actions stated in the indictment alone cannot be seen as acts that incited the resolve for insurrection or propagated it."
Taking into account that Lee's side has not yet reviewed some of the investigative records, the court decided to hold another preparation hearing on the 2nd of next month.
Lee is accused of repeatedly and intensively disseminating information asserting the legitimacy of insurrectionary acts, such as the emergency martial law and decree, from December 3 to December 13, 2024, by utilizing KTV's authority to compile and broadcast breaking news specials and ticker news.
He was also charged with selectively blocking and deleting information critical of or attempting to deter the insurrectionary acts, thereby instigating unspecified viewers to sympathize with the insurrection.
In particular, the 2nd Special Prosecutor Team led by Kwon Chang-young views the end point of the insurrectionary acts as December 14, 2024—when the impeachment motion against former President Yoon Suk Yeol was passed, rather than December 4, 2024, when the emergency martial law was lifted—and indicted Lee without detention, encompassing his actions from December 3 to 13 as a single crime of instigating insurrection.
Separately from this case, Lee was sentenced to one year in prison suspended for two years in the first trial for ordering the deletion of broadcast subtitles featuring politicians pointing out the unconstitutionality and illegality of the emergency martial law, and is currently awaiting an appellate court ruling.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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