'Second-in-Command of Martial Law' Kim Yonghyun Appeals 30-Year First-Trial Sentence on Day of Ruling

Court: "He Encouraged Yoon's Irrational Decision from His Side"

Former Minister of National Defense Kim Yonghyun, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the first trial on charges of conspiring with former President Yoon Sukyeol to declare the December 3 Martial Law, immediately appealed the ruling.

Kim Yonghyun, former Minister of National Defense, smiled while answering questions as a witness at the fourth hearing in President Yoon Sukyeol's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul on January 23, 2025. Photo provided by the Constitutional Court / Yonhap News

According to the legal community on the 19th, Kim's legal team filed a notice of appeal that afternoon with the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ji Guyoun).

Earlier that day, the court had sentenced former Minister Kim to 30 years in prison on charges including engaging in important duties in connection with insurrection and abuse of authority by obstructing the exercise of rights.

The court found that former Minister Kim, together with former President Yoon, took a leading role in preparing the martial law. It was revealed that Kim had prearranged the deployment of the military to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, as well as to public opinion polling firms and the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Korea, and had even drawn up a separate plan to unilaterally conduct an investigation into alleged election fraud.

The court pointed out, "Through these actions, former Minister Kim, from close at hand, encouraged former President Yoon's irrational decision."

Former Minister Kim is accused of attempting, under the martial law, to blockade and seize control of the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, which are constitutional institutions. He was also found guilty of ordering former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo Inhyeong to arrest key figures including President Lee Jaemyung (then leader of the Democratic Party), National Assembly Speaker Woo Wonsik, and former People Power Party leader Han Donghoon, and of organizing and operating arrest teams for that purpose.

Previously, Special Prosecutor Cho Eunseok's team on insurrection had labeled former Minister Kim the "second-in-command of the martial law" and requested a sentence of life imprisonment. At the sentencing hearing held last month, the special prosecution team stated, "From the stage of plotting this insurrection to the stage of execution, he moved as if he were one body with defendant Yoon Sukyeol," adding, "Together with former President Yoon, he planned and led the insurrection, and as the key figure who designed and operated the execution structure of mobilizing the military for the crime, he occupied a position virtually no different from that of the ringleader."

Meanwhile, former President Yoon, who was indicted alongside former Minister Kim on charges of being the ringleader of the insurrection, was sentenced to life imprisonment on the same day.