Yoon Suk Yeol Defends Martial Law Again in Court: "Declared at 10 PM to Minimize Public Harm"

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol claimed in court that he "declared emergency martial law at around 10 PM on a Tuesday to minimize harm to the public."

Former President Yoon made the remarks after being given a chance to speak directly during the continued appellate trial for charges of insurrection as a ringleader, held by Criminal Division 12-1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Lee Seung-chul, Cho Jin-gu, and Kim Min-a) on the 17th.

"To speak from my college days, during the May 18 democratization movement, the new military faction held a cabinet meeting at midnight and declared martial law," he said. "I recall that there was no address to the nation at the time, and a minister simply posted the notice regarding the martial law declaration on a chalkboard in the press room of the Government Complex in Gwanghwamun."

He continued, "However, I thought people should be notified via broadcast before they went to sleep and that the National Assembly should be given a chance to respond, so I believed the national address had to be made at least by 10 PM."

He added that if martial law had been declared earlier, it would have coincided with rush hour, causing chaos, and that protests would have broken out in major downtown areas across the country, requiring massive military and police forces to respond.

Former President Yoon stated, "If I had harbor ill intentions, why would I have rushed? I could have waited until the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport or the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy arrived at the presidential office and delivered the address around midnight." He further argued, "Was there even any need to give an address at all? Couldn't martial law have simply been announced on a chalkboard in the press room of the Government Complex in Sejong like in the old days?"

Former President Yoon's remarks on this day are interpreted as being in line with his previous stance: that he did not intend to monopolize state power through emergency martial law, but rather implemented a "message-driven martial law" to warn the public against the opposition party's overreach.

In the first trial, Former President Yoon was found guilty of insurrection as a ringleader in connection with the December 3 emergency martial law and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.