Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, accused of rebellion, says ”We had no choice but to impose emergency martial law” in his first trial (South Korea)

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is on trial on suspicion of treason, claimed that "emergency martial law was the only way to stop the opposition party from disrupting the national constitution."
On the 17th, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court held the first trial hearing for Kim, former Defense Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won, and former military police chief of the 3rd Field Army Command Kim Young-geun.
On the same day, former Minister Kim took to the microphone and said, "I don't understand what you mean by 'violating the Constitution.' The opposition party's violation of the Constitution has paralyzed the judicial and administrative functions through 22 impeachments and the first budget cuts.
"The only way to block this was to declare emergency martial law," he said. "The president declared the inherent power of emergency martial law, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, and carried out his duties accordingly.
"Will that lead to riots?" Kim countered. On this day, Kim refuted the prosecution's charges one by one. On December 3, last year, the day of the emergency martial law, Lee Jae-myung, the head of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Woo
Regarding the charge that he ordered the arrest of key politicians, including National Assembly Speaker Won-sik and former People's Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, he denied the allegation, saying, "There is no truth to that."
He admitted, "It is dangerous to take a contaminated statement and speak as if it were a fact." Regarding the suspicion of conspiring to impose martial law in advance, he said, "The terms conspiracy and collusion are used in cases where the premise is illegal.
"We simply exchanged opinions and discussed a few points during a brief meeting in preparation for the emergency law, which is an inherent power of the president guaranteed by the Constitution," he said.
Former Minister Kim's side said, "Martial law affairs are being carried out legally, there are no criminal cases, and the investigation procedures of the prosecution, which does not have the authority to investigate civil unrest, are illegal.
Regarding the detention of former Minister Kim, he said, "The conditions for emergency arrest are not met. The detention should be revoked immediately."
After appearing before the prosecutors and being questioned, Kim was immediately arrested and taken into custody. Kim had plotted to impose emergency law together with President Yoon Seok-yeol and sealed off the National Assembly.
He was arrested and indicted on December 27th of last year on charges including ordering the deployment of martial law troops in order to prevent the National Assembly from passing a resolution to lift the state of emergency.