Former SuBang Commander Claims Innocence: "No Intent or Purpose to Disturb National Order"

In the Afternoon, Pretrial Hearings for Park Ansoo and Kwak Jonggeun to Take Place

Former Capital Defense Commanding General Lee Jin-woo, who was indicted on charges of engaging in important tasks related to the rebellion and abuse of authority during the emergency martial law situation last December, claimed innocence.

Lee’s defense team argued on the 23rd at the first pretrial hearing held at the Central Military Court in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, that he was unaware of the martial law in advance, had no intent to disrupt the constitutional order, and had no time to question the unconstitutionality of the martial law. Although defendants are not required to attend pretrial hearings, Lee appeared in court wearing his combat uniform.

Former Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jin-woo is attending the plenary meeting of the "Special Committee on the National Investigation into the Alleged Insurrection through the Declaration of Martial Law by the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration" held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Lee’s lawyer stated, "Even after the declaration of emergency martial law, the National Assembly passed a resolution to lift the martial law, so the National Assembly’s functions were not incapacitated, and the martial law troops breaking a few windows of the National Assembly does not constitute a 'riot' under the crime of rebellion," adding, "The defendant is a soldier under the command of the military commander-in-chief. Since the president, who also served as the Prosecutor General, directly declared the martial law, it must have been judged as a lawful martial law that went through all legal procedures."

The lawyer also said, "If we were to question the constitutionality of the president’s martial law declaration and the minister’s order to dispatch troops to the National Assembly, and only act after a final conclusion of constitutionality, then no commander or soldier would respond in any urgent situation in the future," adding, "The defendant’s actions were merely military measures following legitimate orders from superiors and cannot be said to have had the intent or purpose to disrupt the constitutional order. Rather, ordering subordinates to enter unarmed without firearms is something that could warrant disciplinary action."

Lee’s defense team also stated that the trial should be suspended until the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the presidential impeachment trial is issued, and applied for bail, citing no concerns about evidence tampering.

The military prosecution requested a swift trial, noting that one court’s judgment does not bind another court’s decision, and asked for the trial to be consolidated with those of other military defendants such as Army Chief of Staff Park An-soo and former Army Special Warfare Commanding General Kwak Jong-geun. The military prosecution explained that "the defendants are co-conspirators who carried out important tasks related to the rebellion through organized division of roles," and "the overall content of the indictment is the same, and the evidence records will be composed as similarly as possible."

Meanwhile, in the afternoon, the pretrial hearing for former General Park and former General Kwak will be held.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.