[At a Glance] 4th Trial Summary: Yoon Suk-yeol’s Sedition Charges (May 19, 2025)




🔍 Trial Overview

  • Date: Monday, May 19, 2025 – 10:15 AM

  • Courtroom: Criminal Division 25, Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge: JI Gui-yeon)

  • Participants:

    • Defendant: Yoon Suk-yeol, former President of South Korea

    • Witnesses:

      1. Brigadier General Park Jeong-hwan (Chief of Staff, Army Special Warfare Command)

      2. Brigadier General Lee Sang-hyun (Commander, 1st Airborne Brigade) (Scheduled, not examined on this date)

🧾 Main Proceedings

✅ A. Continued Testimony by Brigadier General Park Jeong-hwan

  • Described real-time observation of Gen. Gwak Jong-geun (former Commander of the Special Warfare Command) taking a call from a superior and replying,
    “We’ll break the door and go in.”

  • Ordered troops to secure the National Assembly, following repeated urgent calls even after deployment had begun.

    • Helicopter insertion began at 11:08 PM on Dec 3, 2024.

    • Orders such as “Break the windows,” “Pull the lawmakers out,” “Stop the vote” were conveyed by Gen. Gwak.

  • After the Martial Law was repealed (Dec 4, 4:30 AM), Gwak was seen “collapsing onto the desk, holding his head in his hands.”

  • Handwritten memo by Park, recorded immediately after the incident, was presented in court. It contained phrases like:

    • “Repeated push for early deployment,”

    • “Stop the vote! Get lawmakers out fast!”

✅ B. Defendant’s Response

  • Yoon’s defense denied all charges of abuse of power, arguing:
    “The martial law was an exercise of constitutional emergency power, not a criminal abuse of authority.”

    • Claimed the indictment was based on “a subjective and political interpretation of unconstitutional martial law.”

  • Questioned the credibility of Park’s memo:

    • Alleged it may have been tailored to lessen the witness’s own criminal liability.

✅ C. Courtroom Dynamics

  • Yoon remained mostly silent and kept his eyes closed throughout.

    • When asked by Judge Ji, “Are you sleeping?”, he responded only with a nod.

  • He declined all questions from reporters, saying only,
    “Let my lawyer speak.”

⚖️ Court's Remarks & Procedural Updates

  • Abuse of power charges, now merged into the sedition case, began to be heard substantively on this date.

  • Debate on order of witness examination:

    • Yoon’s team: requested early examination of Gwak Jong-geun, Lee Jin-woo, and senior police officials.

    • Prosecution: emphasized need to first establish insurrection and constitutional disorder.

    • Court: reserved discretion over scheduling future witness order.

🔜 Next Hearing

  • Date: May 26, 2025 (Monday) – 10:15 AM

  • Witness: Brigadier General Lee Sang-hyun (1st Airborne Brigade)

🗓️ Key Timeline Recap

Date Event
2024.12.03 Martial law declared, triggering sedition case
2024.12.14 National Assembly passes impeachment motion
2024.12.18 / 25 / 29 Yoon refuses three summonses by the Corruption Investigation Office
2024.12.31 Arrest warrant issued
2025.01.15 Yoon arrested after standoff
2025.01.26 Indicted for sedition and abuse of power
2025.03.07 Detention canceled (unlawful application of Crim. Proc. Act ruled)
2025.04.04 Constitutional Court upholds impeachment – Yoon officially removed
2025.04.14 1st trial hearing – Yoon lectures prosecutors, 93 min speech
2025.04.21 2nd hearing – Witnesses deny military intervention orders
2025.05.12 3rd hearing – Testimony of “shoot to enter” and “repeat martial law” orders
2025.05.19 4th hearing – Witness confirms orders to breach National Assembly


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