At the Impeachment Witness Stand, Former South Korean Official Says "All Opposed Emergency Martial Law... Cabinet Meeting Flaws"… Yoon Departs

Han Duck-soo Appears as Witness in 10th Impeachment Hearing
"It Is Not Appropriate for an Individual to Judge Whether It Was a State Council Meeting"
Yoon Leaves After Five Minutes... "Not Good for National Dignity"

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated, "All members of the State Council opposed the emergency martial law on December 3," and added, "I believe there were formal and substantive flaws in the State Council meeting held before the declaration of martial law."

Yonhap News

On the afternoon of the 20th, attending as a witness at the 10th hearing of President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial, Prime Minister Han responded to a question from the National Assembly asking whether there were any State Council members who supported the declaration of martial law by saying, "I remember that everyone was worried and tried to stop it." Regarding the testimony of former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who appeared as a witness at the Constitutional Court and stated that some members were in favor, Han denied it, saying, "To my recollection, that is not the case."

Furthermore, Prime Minister Han testified that the State Council meeting held just before the emergency martial law was not conducted according to the usual procedures, such as lacking formal opening and closing. However, he drew a line by saying it is not appropriate for an individual to judge whether that meeting was indeed a State Council meeting. He said, "There were formal and substantive flaws," but added, "It is not appropriate for an individual to make that judgment. The judiciary should make a decision through investigative procedures."

Regarding this, Justice Kim Hyung-doo asked again, "You need to express your personal opinion on whether it was a State Council meeting for the judiciary to make a judgment," but no definitive answer was given. Prime Minister Han stated, "It is a fact that there were flaws, and that it differed from a usual State Council meeting and did not meet the requirements," but also said, "I think it is inappropriate to speak personally."

Earlier, Prime Minister Han had also testified during police investigations and National Assembly government questioning that the meeting at the time was difficult to consider as an official State Council meeting. Additionally, in his first hearing for the impeachment trial held the previous day, Han’s side argued, "The State Council meeting before the martial law was suddenly convened without prior notice of the agenda and was concluded within five minutes of opening, leaving no sufficient time for deliberation."

However, Prime Minister Han answered that he had never seen or received documents related to the martial law, such as the proclamation, statement, or declaration. When asked by the National Assembly about the circumstances of how he came to know about the declaration document?specifically, that he did not recognize it at the time of receipt but later found it in the back pocket of his suit after arriving at the office?he said, "I do not remember the circumstances of possession. I really do not remember when or how I received it."

Meanwhile, President Yoon, who attended the hearing that day, left the venue after five minutes, and no meeting with Prime Minister Han took place. Yoon’s lawyer, Yoon Gap-geun, explained, "It was not appropriate for the President and Prime Minister of a nation to be seated together in the courtroom with the Prime Minister testifying and the President observing, as it would not be good for the national dignity. Therefore, the President left without seeking understanding. He consulted only with his lawyers before leaving, and we ask for your understanding on this matter."

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