South Korea’s Yoon denies leading ‘a coup’ on first day of insurrection trial

Name: From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol
Uploaded: 2025-04-14T06:12:12.000Z
Duration: 9 min 19 s
Description: From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol

The former president claimed on Monday that his martial law declaration was a ‘peaceful message’, not an attempt to seize power

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Yoon Suk-yeol gestures before leaving the presidential residence in Seoul on Friday. Photo: AFP

Reuters

Published: 2:12pm, 14 Apr 2025Updated: 5:39pm, 14 Apr 2025

South Korea’s ousted leader Yoon Suk-yeol argued that his brief martial law declaration late last year was “not a coup d’etat” as he appeared in court on Monday for the start of a criminal trial over charges that he led an insurrection.

The martial law attempt, which lasted about six hours before Yoon backed down in the face of parliamentary opposition and public protests, plunged the country into months of turmoil and led to the Constitutional Court removing him from the presidency this month for violating constitutional powers.

After departing his house in a motorcade on Monday, Yoon, who has denied all charges against him, entered a courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court, wearing a dark navy suit and red tie.

At the start of proceedings, prosecutors presented their case by arguing that Yoon lacked the legal grounds to declare martial law and accused him of trying to paralyse state institutions such as parliament.

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From president to political pariah: the rise and fall of South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol

“The defendant … made it impossible for constitutional institutions to exercise their authority based on an unlawful declaration,” the prosecution said.