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Kim Yong-hyun (left), the former defense minister at the time of the martial law declaration, takes the witness stand at the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol (right) before the Constitutional Court on Jan. 23, 2025. (courtesy of the Constitutional Court; Kim Tae-hyoung/Hankyoreh)

As Korea’s Constitutional Court reviews the bill of impeachment against President Yoon Suk-yeol, Yoon and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun asserted that their martial law declaration on Dec. 3 was neither illegal nor a failure.

The two main figures behind what’s widely viewed as an insurrection tried to dodge responsibility by saying they hadn’t “properly reviewed” their unconstitutional martial law proclamation document. They also said their orders to “drag out” lawmakers from the National Assembly and to arrest politicians and judges had been “misunderstood” by subordinates.

Kim, who has been indicted on insurrection charges and awaits trial in detention, appeared as a witness in the fourth date of arguments for Yoon’s impeachment trial on Thursday. Kim was the first witness to testify in the impeachment trial at the request of Yoon’s legal team.

Yoon’s attorneys and Kim traded questions and answers as if he’d been coached, with Kim arguing that the declaration of martial law last month was justified. Kim said that no violence had been used and that no illegal orders had been given.

When Yoon’s attorneys asked whether the president had given illegal orders about removing lawmakers from the National Assembly, arresting judges and politicians or seizing servers at the National Election Commission, Kim said Yoon had not given any orders of the sort, and that such orders would have been impossible.

Kim then responded in the affirmative when Yoon’s attorneys asked whether it was true that Yoon had ordered that public safety be prioritized, that no blood be shed and that a bare minimum of troops be deployed.

“The president was extremely concerned and distressed that the main opposition party doesn’t care about people’s livelihood and safety and is totally focused on impeaching officials, appointing special counsels and sheltering [leader Lee Jae-myung],” Kim said.

“This was a crisis: the nation was being plundered. The president decided he could no longer stand by and watch this unfold and reached the agonizing decision to declare martial law,” Kim said, defending Yoon’s martial law declaration as “a bold decision for the sake of the state.”

The former defense minister also completely denied allegations that Yoon had ordered lawmakers to be dragged from the National Assembly or ordered the arrest of judges and politicians.

The attorney representing the National Assembly mentioned the testimony of multiple military commanders who had personally received orders at the time and asked Kim whether those soldiers had told lies. In response, Kim said, “Well, I don’t understand either.”

Kim, just like Yoon, was attempting to shift responsibility to his former subordinates.

Both Yoon and Kim asserted that the martial law declaration had actually not been a failure. “It was adequate to raise the alarm [about the national emergency] with the public,” Kim said.

Yoon said that “martial law didn’t fail,” contrary to the argument of the National Assembly’s attorneys. “I thought it would be over quickly, but it ended a little quicker than I expected.”

The Constitutional Court accepted Kim’s statements to law enforcement as evidence in the trial, along with documents submitted by Yoon’s attorneys demonstrating that the Democratic Party had blocked a number of budget bills and impeached Cabinet members including the chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection.

This hearing lasted for four hours and 22 minutes. The next hearing will be held on Feb. 4.

By Oh Yeon-seo, staff reporter; Jang Hyeon-eun, staff reporter

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