A Seoul court has decided to merge the insurrection trials of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, ex-Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, and former police chief Cho Ji-ho into a single trial. This decision was made during Yoon’s trial hearing at the Seoul Central District Court. The court bench justified the consolidation stating that the trials involve similar facts and share common points of contention regarding charges of insurrection.
Six out of the eight defendants from the three trials, including Yoon, the former defence chief, and Kim Bong-sik, former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, were present in the courtroom. The bench plans to proceed with witness examination of the former defence minister in the ongoing trial and follow up with evidence examination next week.
The Defence Ministry recently announced ‘severe’ disciplinary actions against five senior Army officers involved in Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law last year. This decision followed a committee meeting held by the ministry to determine disciplinary actions against eight senior Army officers linked to the martial law bid on December 3 last year.
The ministry imposed serious disciplinary measures on Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command; Lee Jin-woo, former chief of the Capital Defence Command; and Kwak Jong-keun, former commander of the Army Special Warfare Command. Yeo and Lee are facing potential removal from office, while Kwak is expected to be dismissed, considering his cooperation in revealing the truth behind the martial law bid through testimonies at Yoon’s trials.
Additionally, a former Army vice chief of staff received the second-highest level of disciplinary action, and a colonel from the Defence Counterintelligence Command was handed a two-month suspension.
