Synopsis
In a recent court-martial, Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung, former head of South Korea's Defence Counterintelligence Command, stated he opposed President Yoon's martial law declaration. He claimed to have communicated his disapproval several times, while facing accusations of inappropriate military actions during the brief martial law period.Key Takeaways
- Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung asserts he opposed martial law.
- Accusations include deploying troops to detain lawmakers.
- Yeo acknowledges his command responsibility.
- Military prosecutors argue he had prior knowledge of the plan.
- Maj. Gen. Moon Sang-ho denies involvement in martial law actions.
Seoul, Feb 4 (NationPress) A former leader of the South Korean Defence Counterintelligence Command, who was indicted regarding President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief martial law declaration, stated on Tuesday that he consistently voiced his disapproval of the initiative to Yoon, denying any involvement in the conspiracy.
Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung made these comments during a preparatory session at a court-martial in central Seoul concerning his indictment in late December for his alleged participation in the December 3 martial law declaration led by Yoon, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
Yeo faces accusations of dispatching troops to the National Assembly to arrest lawmakers and to the National Election Commission's offices to confiscate its servers during the short-lived martial law period.
"I directly opposed martial law to the president and the (defence) minister multiple times," Yeo stated. "Despite my objections, I executed the commander-in-chief's public and explicit order for emergency martial law as a soldier."
Yeo contended that insufficient time was available to evaluate the legality of martial law, yet he acknowledged his mistakes as the commander responsible for the troops, pleading with the court for leniency for his team and unit members.
Military prosecutors, however, dismissed Yeo's assertions, arguing that he had sufficient time to evaluate its legality since he was informed of the martial law plan beforehand by Yoon and former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
In a separate matter, a lawyer representing Maj. Gen. Moon Sang-ho, the former commander of the Defence Intelligence Command who is also implicated in the martial law plot, asserted his innocence during the same court hearing on Tuesday.
Moon is accused of deploying troops to the National Election Commission's office in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, to allegedly seize its servers and detain election officials during the martial law period.
The legal counsel argued during the preparatory hearing that Moon followed "legitimate" orders at the time, refuting the allegations against him.
