Soldiers Involved in Pre-Martial Law “Lotteria Meeting” Acquitted at First Trial ... “No Intent to Subvert the Constitutional Order”

[Financial News] Eight soldiers accused of taking part in discussions about the plan at the so-called “Lotteria meeting” in connection with the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration were found not guilty at their first trial. The court found that the offense of subverting the constitutional order was not established because they had not known about the emergency martial law in advance.
A panel of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 38-2, comprising Presiding Judges Jeong Su-yeong, Choi Yeong-gak and Jang Seong-jin, found former 2nd Armored Brigade commander Gu Sam-hoe (brigadier general) and former Director of Defense Innovation Planning Bang Jeong-hwan (brigadier general) not guilty. They had been indicted on charges including performing key duties in an insurrection.
Jo Eun-seok’s special prosecutor team for the insurrection believed that former commander Gu and former director Bang had met former Defense Intelligence Command chief Roh Sang-won at a Lotteria outlet in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, about six hours before the emergency martial law declaration and plotted the martial law. The team alleged that Roh had shared with the two men the assignment of investigating allegations of election fraud involving the National Election Commission through the “2nd Investigation Unit.”
The court explained, “They were merely nominally the commander and deputy commander and did not know the details,” adding, “Former commander Roh had been preparing the 2nd Investigation Unit since October 2024, but did not inform the defendants about it, and they received no documents about the duties they would be assigned.”
Six other former military officers were also found not guilty. They had been indicted on charges of deploying troops to the National Assembly, the National Election Commission and private polling agencies on the day the emergency martial law was declared. They were former Director of Defense Innovation Planning Jeong Seong-u, former commander of the Special Warfare Command’s 3rd Airborne Brigade Kim Jeong-geun, former 9th Airborne Brigade commander An Mu-seong, former deputy chief of the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters Kim Sang-yong, former head of the Capital Defense Command’s Military Police Group Kim Chang-hak, and former head of the Special Operations Aviation Group Kim Se-un.
The court took into account that most of them, too, had not known about the emergency martial law in advance, and that some had repeatedly objected to orders from their superiors. It also found that abuse of authority over subordinate soldiers was not established.

[email protected] Lee Chang-hoon Reporter