"Did you not review the Martial Law Act?"... Yoon personally questions witnesses in court for three consecutive weeks

[Financial News] Former President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in court on charges of leading an insurrection. In response to a witness's statement that there were issues with the order for the National Election Commission to be deployed based on a proclamation, Yoon questioned, "Did you not review the Martial Law Act?" Since the 30th of last month, Yoon has attended his trial for three consecutive weeks, personally questioning witnesses.
On the 10th, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 25 (presided over by Ji Gui-yeon) held a continued hearing for Yoon, who is charged with leading an insurrection and abuse of power. During the session, Yang Seung-cheol, then Colonel and Head of Security and Guard at the Defense Counterintelligence Command, who was tasked with deploying to the National Election Commission's Gwacheon office during the martial law declaration on December 3 last year, testified as a witness.
Colonel Yang testified that, during a meeting with eight staff members including Jung Sung-woo, former Director 1 at the DCC, they concluded that the order to deploy to the National Election Commission under Proclamation No. 2 lacked legal justification. Proclamation No. 2 states, 'All acts that deny or attempt to overthrow the liberal democratic system are prohibited, as are fake news, manipulation of public opinion, and false agitation.' Yang explained that, based on this, securing a specific location could not be justified.
Colonel Yang said, "The eight people who attended the meeting and received the assignment were aware of its importance, having received orders from the President, ministers, and the commander. However, after reviewing the legitimacy of the mission, we concluded it was not justified." He continued, "If we refused to deploy, we could be charged with insubordination, so we decided to proceed with the deployment but stated that we would only carry out the mission if we deemed it legitimate. Ultimately, we concluded it was not justified, and this conflicted with orders from above, so no final decision was reached."
In response, former President Yoon stated, "When martial law is declared and orders are issued from above, not only the proclamation but also Article 7 of the Martial Law Act states that 'when martial law is declared, the martial law authorities oversee administrative and judicial affairs.' Furthermore, Article 8 allows for supervision and management. Isn't the work of the National Election Commission, by its nature, administrative? Did you not review the Martial Law Act? Did you only consider the proclamation?"
Colonel Yang replied, "We made our judgment based solely on the proclamation. The order we received concerned securing objects (data), while the proclamation pertained to people." When Yoon asked if the legal review had been conducted in a 'free atmosphere' at the time, Colonel Yang responded, "It was not a free or relaxed atmosphere."
In the afternoon, Yoon continued his direct questioning with Mr. Yoo, who was then head of the DCC's Cybersecurity Office. Mr. Yoo was the person ordered to secure the server at the National Election Commission on the day martial law was declared. When Yoon asked, "Did the DCC have the equipment necessary to perform forensic analysis on the server?" Mr. Yoo replied, "I'm not sure."
Meanwhile, the court plans to question key figures such as Hong Jang-won, former Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Yeo In-hyung, former Commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, on the 13th. The schedule for questioning Lee Jin-woo, former Commander of the Capital Defense Command, will be discussed at a later date.
scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter