Military Commanders Sentenced to Prison Over Troop Deployment to National Assembly and Election Commission; Former Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung Gets 18 Years

Former high-ranking military generals who participated in the December 3 emergency martial law have been sentenced to prison terms.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Settlement Division 26 (Presiding Judge Lee Hyun-kyung) sentenced former Defense Security Commander Yeo In-hyung, who was indicted on charges of engaging in important missions of insurrection and abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights, to 18 years in prison today (September 21).

Former Capital Defense Commander Lee Jin-woo was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection, led by Cho Eun-seok, had previously demanded 30 years in prison for each of them.

Former Defense Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho was sentenced to 12 years in prison, former Army Chief of Staff Park An-su, who served as martial law commander at the time of the crisis, received 10 years in prison, and former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-keun was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

The court found most of the charges against them guilty, including deploying troops to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission (NEC) during the December 3 emergency martial law and organizing and operating politician arrest squads.

The court determined that immediately after the declaration of martial law, former Commander Yeo formed a "joint arrest squad for anti-state forces" to arrest around 10 politicians, including then-Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung.

The court also ruled as facts the charges that he received instructions from former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to take control of the NEC and secure computer data, dispatching Defense Security Command troops to the NEC, and committing perjury regarding the martial law troops' infiltration into the NEC during the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and military court trials.

Based on memo notes belonging to former Commander Yeo that contained details about the joint politician arrest squads and the operation of a task force dedicated to investigating election fraud, the court pointed out that he actively conspired in advance with former President Yoon Suk Yeol and others.

The court also noted that he held multiple prior meetings with former President Yoon and former Minister Kim Yong-hyun, recognizing the illegal nature of the purpose behind declaring martial law.

Former Commander Lee Jin-woo was found guilty on charges of ordering Capital Defense Command troops to mobilize to the National Assembly once martial law was declared.

The court explained that right before the National Assembly passed the motion demanding the lifting of emergency martial law, he received an instruction from former President Yoon with the intent to drag lawmakers out and passed it directly to his unit members.

Former Chief of Staff Park An-su was found guilty of participating in the insurrection by issuing an unconstitutional and illegal martial law decree as martial law commander and ordering the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency to blockade the National Assembly.

The court pointed out that former Chief of Staff Park recognized, at least with conditional intent, the fact that former President Yoon intended to render the functions of the National Assembly impossible by issuing an unconstitutional and illegal decree.

While he argued that his actions at the time were coerced by superiors, the court did not accept this defense.

The reasoning was that as the Army Chief of Staff—who was in a position to acquire military information—he recognized that the situation was not a state of emergency, yet failed to make separate recommendations to his superiors.

Former Commander Moon Sang-ho was found guilty of participating in prior martial law conspiracies and deploying troops to the NEC, while former Commander Kwak Jong-keun was convicted for dispatching Special Warfare Command troops to the National Assembly, the headquarters of the Democratic Party, and the Gwacheon government complex of the NEC.

Regarding the reasoning for the sentencing, the court criticized, "The crime of insurrection, which threatens the existence of the state, is incomparably grave. The defendants turned their backs on the political neutrality of the military and used the military politically for a specific faction."

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