Former President Yoon Suk Yeol appears at a military court in central Seoul on Thursday. (Photo by Yonhap)
Ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday apologized to key military commanders who are standing trial for their involvement in his failed martial law bid, defending their action as the result of compliance with his orders.
Yoon made the remarks at a martial law trial against the commanders at the military court in central Seoul, which he attended as a witness. Defendants included Kwak Jong-keun, former chief of the Army Special Warfare Command; Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command; and Lee Jin-woo, former head of the Capital Defense Command.
“It is pitiful to see senior military and police officials whom I know appear at the court,” Yoon said.
“I feel very sorry as they are people who did what they have to do upon my decision,” he said, adding he prayed late into the night after returning to the detention center following trials.
During Thursday’s trial, Yoon reiterated that he had no intention of maintaining martial law for an extended period and that the declaration was aimed only at exposing the “blatant” behavior of the then main opposition party.
“The martial law was imposed to raise an alarm bell to the public on the country’s perilous situation,” the former president said. “I was thinking that it would last half a day, or a day at the most.”
Yoon said he did not instruct any official, other than former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, to review or prepare for the imposition of martial law.
The then opposition party’s drive to impeach the state auditor chief on the night before the martial law imposition became the “decisive trigger” for him to instruct for preparations for martial law, he claimed.
Speaking on a recent reshuffle of officials dispatched to the Defense Counterintelligence Command, Yoon said institutions pivotal to national security should not be neutralized due to their involvement in the martial law bid.
Yoon’s appearance at the military court, located within the defense ministry compound that also houses the presidential office, marked his first visit to his former office compound in about a year. It also came on his 65th birthday.
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