Yoon's Legal Team: "No Orders to Scale the Wall or Drag Lawmakers Out on Martial Law Day... Military's Own Decision"

[Financial News] The legal team of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to life in prison at his first trial on charges including being the ringleader of an insurrection during the Dec. 3 emergency martial law, strongly disputed the martial law troops' "wall-scaling orders" during the appellate trial. The team argued that orders given to the troops, including "scale the wall and enter the National Assembly" and "drag the lawmakers out," were on-site decisions made before Yoon's call with the military commander at the time.
The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 12-1, comprising High Court Judges Lee Seung-cheol, Jo Jin-gu, and Kim Min-a, held an appellate hearing on the 6th for Yoon Suk Yeol, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, former National Police Agency Commissioner General Jo Ji-ho, and former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Bong-sik.
The legal team's rebuttal that day focused on the call duration and the sequence of events reflected in the call records. Citing a record of a call between Yoon Suk Yeol and Lee Jin-woo, then commander of the Capital Defense Command, at around 11:33 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2024, the team said, "The two could have actually spoken for no more than 13 seconds." It added, "It would have been physically impossible in that extremely short period to issue specific operational instructions such as, 'Since everything is blocked, leave the guns on the bus and go over the wall,' beyond asking where they were."
The legal team also argued that the order to "go over the wall" was a decision made by the military commander himself, not Yoon Suk Yeol. It presented a recording of an actual call between Lee Jin-woo and Kim Chang-hak, head of the military police group, at 12:02 a.m. on Dec. 4. In the recording, Lee told Kim, "Don't try to go in. If the military police special-mission personnel have arrived, send them in over the wall," "At the Main Building, take charge of a gate and just block them from getting in. Don't go in carrying guns," and "Do it under police authority."
The legal team noted, "The order to go over the wall appears for the first time in this call," adding, "This is also consistent with Lee's testimony in court that 'I, not the president, was the one who told them to make arrests.'"
The legal team also presented a recording of a call at 12:30 a.m. in which Lee Sang-hyun, commander of the 1st Special Forces Brigade (Airborne), instructed battalion commander Kim Young-gi. The audio file clearly captured the brigade commander ordering, "Team 1 leader, go over the wall. Go over the wall and enter the Main Building of the National Assembly. Go in and drag all the lawmakers out," followed by the battalion commander's reply, "Yes, understood."
The legal team argued, "Lee Sang-hyun issued this order after receiving instructions to change the mission from Kwak Jong-geun, commander of the Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command, at 12:24 a.m." It added, "Yoon Suk Yeol first called Kwak to simply ask about the troop movements at 12:36 a.m., which was later than this. The order to arrest lawmakers was therefore clearly unrelated to Yoon Suk Yeol."
The special counsel's office said it would submit a written rebuttal later to the legal team's analysis of the call records and recordings. After completing the examination of witnesses, the court will resume proceedings on the 8th.

[email protected] Lee Chang-hoon Reporter