Although unlikely, Yoon could face death penalty if found guilty of preparing coup with last year’s declaration of martial law.
South Korea’s impeached former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has denied charges of insurrection as his criminal trial opened.
The ousted leader argued in the Seoul Central District Court on Monday that his declaration of martial law late last year was “not a coup d’etat”. If found guilty of insurrection, Yoon could be sentenced to life in prison or receive a death sentence.
Yoon was formally stripped of office earlier this month after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his December 3 martial law declaration.
Prosecutors opened their case by arguing that Yoon lacked the legal grounds to declare martial law and accused him of trying to paralyse state institutions such as parliament.
“The defendant … made it impossible for constitutional institutions to exercise their authority based on an unlawful declaration,” the prosecution said.
Yoon, who was the country’s chief prosecutor before becoming president, spent about 40 minutes refuting the allegations.
“Martial law is not a coup d’etat,” the former president said. He added that he had no intention of paralysing the country but that martial law was needed to alert the people to the actions of the majority opposition party.
He said that the opposition had been stonewalling the government by impeaching more than 20 officials, which he saw as a dangerous threshold.
“This was a peaceful ‘message martial law’ to the nation… I knew this martial law would end within half a day – a day,” Yoon said.
Although he had communicated this intention to then-Minister of National Defence Kim Yong-hyun, military officials carrying out the order seemed to have overstepped it because they are used to training for martial law under different guidelines, Yoon asserted.
The martial law declaration, which cited the need to root out “antistate” elements, was lifted six hours later after parliamentary staffers used barricades and fire extinguishers to ward off special operations soldiers trying to enter parliament, where lawmakers voted to reject martial law.
The court will hear witness testimonies from two military officers called by prosecutors, including one officer who claims he was instructed by top commanders “to drag out the lawmakers gathered in the National Assembly to lift the martial law”. Yoon has denied this allegation.
Experts say Yoon’s criminal trial is likely to be a lengthy one.
“The first verdict is likely to be delivered around August, but the case involves around 70,000 pages of evidence and numerous witnesses. So if deemed necessary by the court, the trial may be extended,” lawyer Min Kyoung-sic told the AFP news agency.
If found guilty, Yoon would become the third South Korean president to be found guilty of insurrection – after two military leaders in connection to a 1979 coup.
While he could be sentenced to death, it is highly unlikely that sentence would be carried out since South Korea has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.