
The preparatory hearing for the trial of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun will be held Thursday, headlining legal proceedings against military commanders implicated in President Yoon Suk Yeol's alleged insurrection.
Kim, currently under detention, faces insurrection and power abuse charges related to his role in Yoon's botched martial law plan Dec. 3-4. He is believed to have acted under Yoon's orders to deploy armed forces to the National Assembly, in an apparent bid to block the parliamentary vote to nullify Yoon's decree.
Kim is also suspected of ordering Army Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyeong to arrest a list of around 10 prominent figures, including the National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-sik, main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung and then-leader of Yoon's own People Power Party, Han Dong-hoon, while also deploying troops to occupy the National Election Commission and seize servers.
The former minister's trial, set to be held at the Seoul Central District Court, will mark the beginning of the trials of military and police officials suspected of playing significant roles under Yoon in his plot to declare emergency martial law on Dec. 3.
Along with Yeo, then-Martial Law Commander Park An-su, Capital Defense Command chief Lee Jin-woo, Defense Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho and Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-keun are currently under arrest and will be tried by the military court, as they are current military officials. Former Defense Intelligence Command head Roh Sang-won, a long-time confidant of Yoon who played a prominent role in Yoon's martial law plan, will be tried at a civilian court.
Park, Yeo, Lee and Kwak's preparatory hearing will be held on Jan. 23.
The preparatory hearings for the trials of Police Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho and Seoul Metropolitan Police Chief Kim Bong-sik will be held at the Seoul Central District Court on Feb. 6. The two are accused of mobilizing the police's special tactical unit to surround the perimeters of the National Assembly, while planning the arrests of the aforementioned approximately 10 top figures, as well as seeking to seize NEC servers.
Yoon, who has been suspended from power, is currently under criminal investigation and undergoing an impeachment trial for leading insurrection and commiting abuse of power, concerning his martial law declaration and allegedly illegal orders related to it. Last month, Yoon became the first sitting president in the country's history to have a court issue a warrant for his arrest.
But Yoon's arrest has faced fierce opposition from his bodyguards in the Presidential Security Service, who physically blocked the initial attempt by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Jan. 6, resulting in an over five-hour standoff before investigators retreated. Park Jong-jun, who was the head of the PSS at the time of the attempted arrest, was grilled by police on allegations of obstruction of official duties, as was head of the PSS Security and Safety Division Lee Jin-ha.
With the ongoing criminal investigation of Yoon, the opposition has been attempting to pass bills to authorize an additional special counsel to probe Yoon's insurrection charge, but they have been blocked multiple times in parliamentary votes by Yoon's ruling party.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea will propose a new special counsel bill to the plenary session of the National Assembly this week -- centered on inviting a neutral party to nominate the counsel -- while the ruling party is working on devising its own version of the special counsel bill.