A top South Korean military commander said on Tuesday he trusted President Yoon Suk Yeol to be making a legitimate decision when he declared martial law, but declined to say if the impeached leader gave orders to “drag” lawmakers out of parliament.
Army Lieutenant General Lee Jin-woo testified at a Constitutional Court trial reviewing parliament’s impeachment of Yoon marover his short-lived martial law decree of Dec. 3.
Yoon’s declaration of martial law plunged the country into a constitutional crisis that also saw the prime minister being impeached.
“I still believe it was legitimate and when told to go to parliament, I considered it to be an order,” Lee told the court.
“There was no chance to even think about whether it was illegal or unconstitutional, when the commander-in-chief, who represents the people, and whom I knew to be a legal expert as a former top prosecutor, spoke to the country and to the world.”
The Constitutional Court is reviewing parliament’s impeachment of Yoon on Dec. 14 and will decide whether to remove him from office permanently or reinstate him. If he is removed, a new presidential election must be held within three months.
Prosecutors have separately indicted Yoon on charges of leading an insurrection. He was arrested last month and is being held at a detention centre.
Lee, who was the commander of the Army Capital Defence Command, is among a number of senior military and police officers who have also been accused of insurrection and abuse of authority.
Questioning Lee and other witnesses in court was focused on allegations that Yoon had given an order to arrest politicians.
Yeo In-hyung, who headed the defence counterintelligence command, said he had opposed martial law but could not help but comply with the commander-in-chief’s decision.
He refused to answer questions about whether he had a list of politicians to arrest.
With Reuters inputs
