Former Joint Chiefs Chairman Kim Myungsoo Fully Denies Rebellion Charges

"Special Prosecutor Distorts the Facts"

The legal team representing former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Myungsoo, who was put on trial for participating in the rebellion, including his involvement in forming the Martial Law Command during the 12·3 emergency martial law, denied the charges in court.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Myungsoo, who was indicted for participating in the rebellion by forming the Martial Law Headquarters during the December 12 and 3 emergency martial law, is responding to reporters' questions as he attends the first trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Yonhap News Agency

At the first trial for charges of participating in the rebellion and engaging in significant duties, held on September 1 at the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 37-2 (Presiding Judges Oh Changsub, Ryu Changseong, and Jang Seonghun), Kim's attorney stated, "We deny all the allegations, and the detailed arguments will be submitted in a written opinion."

The representatives for former Deputy Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Readiness Inspection Lee Jaesik, former Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Jeong Jinpal, and former Army Headquarters policy chief Kim Heungjoon, who were indicted alongside Kim, also denied the accusations.

They all share the position that they did not recognize the unconstitutionality or illegality of the situation at the time.

The next trial, scheduled for the 15th, will include witness examination. Witnesses such as former Joint Chiefs of Staff Martial Law Division Chief Kwon Younghwan, who were indicted on July 2 for failing to prevent and participating in the formation of the Martial Law Command despite observing the military being deployed to places like the National Assembly from the Joint Chiefs of Staff Command and Control Center at the time of the emergency martial law declaration, will testify.

In particular, it was found that Kim had raised the alert level of the entire armed forces to Level 2 and issued brief orders to the Special Warfare Command and Capital Defense Command to "prioritize martial law operations." He was further charged with participating in the rebellion for disregarding his staff's recommendation to withdraw troops from the National Assembly.

Kim is also accused of being aware of the illegality of deploying Special Warfare Command and Capital Defense Command troops, yet failing to fulfill his duty to halt such actions.

Meanwhile, the court will conduct a private onsite inspection in the afternoon at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Command and Control Center, where the Martial Law Command situation room was established during the emergency martial law event.

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