Lawyers for Yoon Suk Yeol have told a court in Seoul that the impeached president declared martial law in late 2024 to prevent the country becoming a “legislative dictatorship” controlled by his political opponents.
The claim came as Yoon became the first South Korean president to stand trial in a criminal case, brought over his short-lived declaration of martial law in early December.
Yoon, who attended Thursday’s hearing at Seoul central district court but did not speak, is accused of fomenting insurrection with the martial law order. The crime of insurrection carries a long prison sentence and, theoretically, could attract the death penalty, though South Korea has not carried out an execution since 1997.
Yoon’s lawyer, Kim Hong-il, condemned the “illegal probe” against the suspended president, arguing the “investigating body has no jurisdiction”.
“The declaration of martial law was not intended to paralyse the state,” Kim said at the hearing, which ended after just 13 minutes.
He said the martial law order had meant to “alert the public to the national crisis caused by the legislative dictatorship of the dominant opposition party, which had crippled the administration” – a reference to the Democratic party, which has a majority in the national assembly.
Yoon, a 64-year-old ultra-conservative who became president in May 2022, has been in prison since he was arrested last month after tense standoffs between the authorities and his personal security detail.
There was heavy security around the court building on Thursday, with the Yonhap news agency reporting that about 3,200 police officers had been mobilised.
Prosecutors have accused Yoon of being the “ringleader of an insurrection”. He has been suspended since parliament voted to impeach him in mid-December.
His lawyers have condemned the criminal investigation as illegitimate and challenged the legality of his indictment, arguing that it was within his power as head of state to declare martial law. They told reporters last week that it was “an act of governance and cannot be subject to judicial review”.
Later on Thursday, Yoon also attended a parallel impeachment trial in the constitutional court that has entered its final phase. The court’s acting chief justice, Moon Hyung-bae, said the next hearing would be held on 25 February, during which Yoon and the parliament, which is presenting the case against him, will give final remarks.
Yoon’s future hangs in the balance. If the constitutional court sides with parliament, he will be permanently removed from office and a new president elected within 60 days.
Witnesses testifying to the constitutional court on Thursday, included the prime minister, Han Duck-soo, who has also been impeached and awaits the court’s decision on his fate.
“I am deeply burdened by the despair that each and every one of our people felt due to such extreme politics that took place before, during and after emergency martial law,” Han said. “All procedures dealing with the emergency martial law must be carried out fairly and reasonably … so that there is no further spark of national division.”
Much of Yoon’s impeachment trial has centred on the question of whether he violated the constitution by declaring martial law, which is meant to be reserved for national emergencies or times of war.
His decree lasted only around six hours as the opposition-led parliament defied troops to vote it down. But it has plunged Asia’s fourth-biggest economy into months of political turmoil, with protests, two presidential impeachments and a surge of online disinformation by Yoon’s supporters.
The next hearing in Yoon’s criminal case is schedule for 24 March.
