“If Martial Law Is Declared a Second or Third Time, That Will Do”... Dispute Over Verification of Yoon’s Encrypted-Phone Call

[Financial News] A dispute continued during the appellate trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to a lengthy prison term in the first trial over the December 3 emergency martial law declaration. The dispute centered on whether to conduct an “on-site verification” to determine whether the contents of military encrypted-phone calls made during martial law could have been overheard. The defense argued that testimony based on sounds allegedly leaking from the encrypted phone was unreliable, while prosecutors countered that it was impossible to recreate the exact circumstances at the time.
The Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 12-1, presided over by Judge Lee Seung-chul, held the 17th appellate hearing on the cases involving former President Yoon Suk Yeol, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, and former Defense Intelligence Commander Roh Sang-won on the 14th.
At the hearing, the “encrypted-phone call verification” requested by Kim Yong-hyun’s legal team emerged as the central issue. Kim’s attorney argued that the credibility of testimony should be challenged in which a third party allegedly heard the contents of a secure-phone call between Yoon Suk Yeol and former Capital Defense Commander Lee Jin-woo through sounds that leaked outside the handset while Lee was in his vehicle during martial law.
Captain Oh Sang-bae and others, who testified as witnesses in the first trial, said they were waiting inside a Carnival vehicle in front of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea shortly after emergency martial law was declared when a caller ID reading “President” appeared on a military encrypted phone, prompting them to hand the phone to Lee Jin-woo. They testified that, although the phone was not on speaker, they heard instructions through it such as, “Break down the door, go in, and drag them out,” and, “Even if the motion demanding the lifting of martial law passes, martial law can be declared a second or third time.”
The defense argued, “The parties involved deny that the call took place, and testimony that someone heard sounds from beyond the handset is merely speculation.” It added, “The noise conditions and distance need to be recreated so that the claim can be scientifically disproved.”
The special counsel’s office immediately requested that the application be dismissed. It countered, “It is impossible to recreate identically the circumstances from one year and nine months ago,” adding, “The callers’ volume and the encrypted phone’s volume settings at the time were relative and subjective, so verifying hypothetical conditions would serve no practical purpose.”
The court decided to first accept requests for fact inquiries and document production concerning the encrypted phone and review objective materials before deciding later whether to conduct an on-site verification.
The defense also renewed its request to question Kim Hyun-tae, the former commander of the 707th Special Mission Group, as a witness after the first-trial court rejected the request. It plans to obtain and submit closed-circuit television footage from inside and outside the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea as evidence.
The court rescheduled the hearings for witnesses who failed to appear for October and decided to prioritize video arguments by Yoon Suk Yeol’s legal team at the hearing on the 17th.
[email protected] Chang-hoon Lee Reporter