The criminal trials began Thursday for high-ranking officials and former military commanders suspected of playing a part in the alleged insurrection under President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The Seoul Central District Court held the first preparatory hearings in the trials of Choi Ji-ho, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, and Kim Bong-shik, the former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, at 10 a.m. The two are being investigated for insurrection and abuse of power in relation to President Yoon's Dec. 3 imposition of martial law.
The trial for Yoon, suspended from office and under arrest, is to commence on Feb. 20.
Police chiefs
Cho and Kim, who headed the Seoul police agency at the time, are believed to have mobilized police forces to aid the military in carrying out orders to close off the National Assembly and arrest prominent politicians and outspoken opponents of Yoon. In his impeachment trial, which is separate from the upcoming criminal trial, the president has denied giving either of the orders.
The police are suspected of working with the military in attempts to locate targeted figures including National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, then-leader of the ruling People Power Party, Han Dong-hoon, and main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung.
The focal point of the trial is whether the police chiefs mobilized officers under Yoon's orders, as the prosecution claims.
Both defendants denied the accusations on Thursday, claiming that the police were not cooperating with the Martial Law Command.
“Cho merely worked to maintain public order as required of the commissioner general, yet he is being misperceived as aiding the martial law troops… The truth is (Cho) actually prevented crime so that martial law would not succeed,” said Cho’s lawyer.
Kim's legal representative also denied the charges but refused to comment on the specifics. Kim himself attended the hearing, but did not issue a statement concerning the charges against him.
Former military officials
Other key proceedings on Thursday at the same court were the first preparatory hearings in the trials of Noh Sang-won, former commander of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command, and former KDIC colonel Kim Yong-gun. The two former military men are accused of planning the imposition of martial law, with Noh playing a prominent role.
It was alleged by the prosecution that Noh -- who was not an active member of the military during the martial law decree -- gave instructions to KDIC chief Moon Sang-ho.
The former colonel Kim -- who also was a civilian at the time -- is thought to have been entrusted with the task of arresting and interrogating officials of the National Election Commission, which the president has accused of rigging last year's parliamentary elections, which the ruling party lost. Noh instructed Kim to recommend members of the military police who would carry out investigations into the supposed election rigging, according to the prosecution's indictment revealed by Rep. Kim Yong-min of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
The president admitted to the Constitutional Court that he ordered his defense minister to send troops to the NEC, claiming it was necessary to probe the alleged election rigging. Multiple investigations into the matter, most of which were conducted during the Yoon administration, failed to uncover evidence that the elections were rigged in any way.
Ex-defense minister
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, accused of insurrection and abuse of power, will undergo the second preparatory hearing in his trial after the hearings of Noh and Kim on Thursday. He is accused of mobilizing an estimated 1,500 soldiers during the brief period of martial law, and of giving orders to block off the National Assembly.
Kim said his order to the troops deployed at the National Assembly was to stand guard there, and that it did not mean sealing off the parliamentary compound. He also said that the actions taken there were on his orders and were not reported to the president.
Like Yoon, Kim has denied giving orders to arrest politicians, saying that he instructed his commanders to monitor individuals who he thought were likely to violate the martial law decree.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
