Defense Team on Yoon's One-Hour Final Statement: "Confident of Acquittal... The Court Must Have Been Moved"

Final Hearing Held on April 24 for 'Pyongyang Drone Provocation' Case
Special Prosecutor Team Led by Cho Eunsuk Demands 30-Year Prison Sentence for Yoon

Former President Yoon Sukyeol delivered his final statement over the course of an hour as he stands trial on charges related to deploying drones over Pyongyang, North Korea. His defense team described his remarks as “the kind of words that even the special prosecutors and the court could not help but be moved by.”

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol appears at the first trial on charges of 'obstruction of special official duties and abuse of authority to interfere with the exercise of rights' held on September 26, 2025, at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Photographers Group

Song Jin-ho, the attorney representing former President Yoon, stated on his Facebook page on April 25, “Personally, I dare say that the content of his final statement yesterday was more moving than any testimony I have heard in many other cases so far,” adding, “The final hearing in the first trial of the general subversion case against President Yoon Sukyeol has been held, and with only the verdict remaining, I am confident of his acquittal.”

Earlier, on April 24, the special prosecutor team led by Cho Eunsuk, during the final hearing of the first trial on charges including general subversion before the 36th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (presided over by Judge Lee Jeongyeop), demanded a 30-year prison sentence for former President Yoon. He was accused of carrying out a drone infiltration operation in Pyongyang to provoke North Korean hostilities as a pretext for declaring a state of emergency.

The trial has been conducted entirely behind closed doors due to the large amount of military secrets involved, so the full content of former President Yoon’s final statement is not publicly known. However, his defense team expressed regret over the lack of public coverage for military secrecy reasons and held a press conference after the trial to release portions of his statement.

According to the defense team, in his final statement, former President Yoon said, “I first learned about the matters raised by the special prosecutor in court, but upon hearing and checking the facts, it was an extremely appropriate operation. In fact, it was so important and well executed that not conducting such an operation in the Ministry of National Defense could have constituted dereliction of duty.”

It was also reported that former President Yoon described to the court in detail the efforts he made while performing his presidential duties.

On December 26 of last year, during the final hearing in his first trial on charges including obstruction of the execution of an arrest warrant, former President Yoon also delivered a one-hour final statement, during which he actively defended himself, insisting his charges did not constitute a crime and did not apologize to the public.

At the final hearing of the first trial in the insurrection case on January 13 of this year, he again delivered a final statement lasting an hour and a half, at one point referring to the special prosecutor as a “pack of wolves.” He also remarked, “When I saw the public supporting and encouraging me, saying they were enlightened during a national crisis, I thought, ‘Ah, the emergency bell I rang really had an effect,’” echoing his comments during his impeachment proceedings.

Meanwhile, the verdict for the ‘Pyongyang drone deployment’ case is scheduled for June 12.

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