Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's impeached former president, stands trial for allegedly declaring martial law unlawfully, which prosecutors argue aimed to paralyze governing institutions. He refutes these claims, asserting that his intent was to alert the nation about opposition party actions that threatened governance. Impeachment followed his controversial declaration, which occurred during heightened political tensions in December. Yoon maintains that his declaration of martial law was necessary and temporary, designed as a peaceful message to address political turmoil. If convicted of insurrection, he could face severe penalties, including life in prison or the death penalty.
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.
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.
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.
Yoon, who was the country's chief prosecutor before becoming president, spent about 40 minutes refuting the allegations.
Collection
[
|
...
]