South Korea's constitutional court convened its fifth hearing of President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial on Tuesday. Marking his third appearance, President Yoon attended the ceremony in Seoul's central courtroom around 2 p.m. local time.
During the proceedings, Yoon defended his actions on December 3 of last year when he declared emergency martial law. He firmly stated, \"nothing really happened,\" rejecting claims that he had ordered martial law troops to forcibly remove lawmakers from the National Assembly, which had subsequently rescinded the martial law declaration hours later.
Video footage from that night showed military helicopters landing at the National Assembly and armed special forces troops forcibly entering the parliamentary building. Under South Korea's constitution, only the National Assembly holds the authority to revoke martial law, and the president is constitutionally mandated to report martial law imposition to the assembly.
Yoon explained his intention was to appeal directly to the public, with the plan to lift martial law should the parliament vote against it. He emphasized that this strategy was only discussed with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, not with other cabinet members.
However, the prosecution has indicted Yoon for allegedly urging military commanders via phone to deploy martial law troops into the parliamentary chamber, where lawmakers were gathered, and to \"fire guns\" and \"use axes\" to break down the doors.
In a surprising turn, Lee Jin-woo, the former chief of the Capital Defense Command implicated in the martial law imposition, declined to testify during the hearing. He cited restrictions due to his own ongoing criminal case but confirmed having spoken with Yoon on the night of the martial law declaration.
This high-stakes trial continues to unfold, with significant implications for South Korea's political landscape and the balance of executive power.
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S. Korea's court holds 5th hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial
cgtn.com
