Yoon's Side: "Transfer Invalid" vs. Special Prosecutor: "Transfer Included in Handover"
Former Joint Chiefs Martial Law Director: "Including 'physicians' in the proclamation seemed very strange"
The special prosecutor team led by Cho Eunseok, investigating the insurrection case related to the 12·3 Martial Law, and the team of former President Yoon Sukyeol clashed over the transfer and maintenance of prosecution for a case that had been indicted by the Special Investigation Headquarters for Martial Law and is currently on trial. Yoon's side argued that the transfer procedure was invalid due to procedural errors, while the special prosecutor's team countered that such claims were unfounded.
On July 3, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (presiding judge Ji Guyoun) held the ninth trial for former President Yoon, who is charged with leading an insurrection and abuse of authority.
Before the main proceedings began, Yoon's defense stated, "The special prosecutor requested the Special Investigation Headquarters to hand over the case, but the headquarters transferred the case to the special prosecutor. Handover and transfer are clearly separate procedures."
They further argued, "Since the transfer was made without any request, the transfer itself is legally groundless and thus invalid. We have no choice but to question the validity of a transfer that was not requested."
In response, special prosecutor Park Eoksu stated, "This is a claim that cannot be accepted based on law and common sense," and argued, "Transfer is included within the concept of handover."
The special prosecutor's team added, "From a common-sense perspective, handover and transfer both mean passing the case to the special prosecutor. Since the headquarters carried out the handover upon request, both handover and transfer have been completed."
During the trial, testimony was heard from Kwon Younghwan, former Director of Martial Law at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Colonel), and Ko Donghee, former Director of Planning at the Defense Security Command (Colonel).
When asked by the prosecution whether he had stated during the investigation that he was unfamiliar with the proclamation issued under martial law, Kwon replied, "When drafting a martial law proclamation, each clause must be detailed to prevent public misunderstanding and to ensure that the martial law authorities do not infringe on basic rights. It was odd that there were only six clauses."
He added, "A proclamation is meant to protect the public and maintain public safety and order, so it seemed very strange that physicians were included in it."
During cross-examination by Yoon's defense, Kwon further stated, "Although I am not a legal expert, I felt that items 1 and 5 were very legally questionable. I wondered whether legal experts had actually reviewed them."
The first clause of the proclamation at the time stated, "All political activities, including those of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties, political associations, gatherings, and demonstrations, are prohibited." The fifth clause stated, "All medical personnel, including residents and those on strike or who have left their medical posts, must return to work and perform their duties faithfully within 48 hours. Violators will be punished under the Martial Law Act."
Ko, who led the field operation to seize control of the National Election Commission during martial law, was asked by the prosecution whether he had instructed the field team to "blow up the KakaoTalk group chat" where the team was sharing information, saying, "It seems we've gotten involved in something strange. This doesn't feel right. Delete the KakaoTalk chat room for now." He confirmed that he had. He added, "I felt we were involved in something improper," and said, "I told the team members to leave the chat room at that time."
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor's team announced that, in addition to the 38 witnesses previously requested by the prosecution, they would request an additional 72 witnesses from the court on this day.
The court plans to summon Jeong Seongwoo, former Director of the First Counterintelligence Department (Brigadier General), and Kim Youngkwon, Commander of the Counterintelligence Unit (Colonel), for questioning at the tenth trial scheduled for July 10, following the continued testimony of Ko, who was not finished on this day.
Jeong was the person who received instructions from former Counterintelligence Commander Yeo Inhyeong to control the National Election Commission's computer room and secure the servers, while Kim was reportedly present in the Joint Chiefs of Staff's command and control room on the day martial law was declared, when former Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jonggeun received orders from former President Yoon.
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