Shin Won-sik's Legal Team Denies Charges of 'Justifying Martial Law' Message, Stating He 'Received No Orders from Yoon Suk-yeol'

The legal team for former National Security Office Director Shin Won-shik, who was indicted on charges of promoting the justification of emergency martial law to major allies under the orders of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, has completely denied the charges in court.

During the first preparatory hearing held by Criminal Settlement Division 38-1 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Jang Sung-jin, Jung Sooyoung, and Choi Young-gak) on September 16, Shin's defense counsel stated, "We deny the entirety of the criminal facts."

The defense argued, "Shin never received such instructions from the president, and he knew nothing about and was not involved in the subsequent circumstances."

The defense explained that Shin did receive a phone call from former President Yoon on the afternoon of December 4, 2024—after the lifting of martial law—in which Yoon said, "Tell Kim Tae-hyo (former 1st Deputy Director of the National Security Office) to pass along the instructions given to him in the morning to four other countries," and that Shin simply relayed this request to former Deputy Director Kim.

However, the defense maintained that Shin did not know the specific details of the instructions mentioned by former President Yoon, nor was he aware of the process by which the instructions were carried out.

The 2nd Special Prosecutor Team announced plans to apply for an amendment to the indictment, viewing the end point of the insurrection not as December 4, 2024, when martial law was lifted, but as December 14, 2024, when former President Yoon's duties were suspended, thereby applying charges of participating in critical duties of an insurrection to some of Shin's actions prior to that date.

The legal team for former President Yoon, who was indicted alongside Shin, stated that they have not yet been able to review the trial records and did not state a specific position on the indictment.

The court decided to hold another preparatory hearing on October 28.

Former President Yoon was indicted last month on charges of ordering the National Security Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deliver messages implying that the emergency martial law was justified to major allies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the European Union (EU) immediately after the declaration of the December 3 emergency martial law.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.