South Korea: Court merges insurrection trials of ex-President Yoon, ex-defence, police chiefs

Seoul, Dec 30 (IANS) A Seoul court on Tuesday combined the insurrection trials of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former police chief Cho Ji-ho over their involvement in last year’s failed martial law bid into a single trial.

The announcement came during Yoon’s trial hearing on charges of leading an insurrection at the Seoul Central District Court, which had been conducted separately from the trials of former military and defence officials, including Kim, and of Cho and other police leadership, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The court bench had earlier said it would merge the three trials as they deal with identical facts and have the same points of contention over charges of insurrection.

Six of the eight defendants of the three trials were present at the courtroom, including Yoon, the former defence chief and Kim Bong-sik, former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

The bench plans to conduct witness examination on the former defence minister during Tuesday’s trial before carrying out evidence examination next week.

On Monday, the defence ministry said it has decided to take ‘severe’ disciplinary action against five senior Army officers for their involvement in Yoon Suk Yeol ‘s failed bid to impose martial law last year.

The decision came after the ministry held a committee meeting earlier this month to decide on disciplinary action against eight senior Army officers — seven generals and one colonel — involved in the martial law bid on December 3 last year.

The said ministry imposed serious disciplinary action 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.

The three are currently on trial on charges of playing key roles in an insurrection for allegedly deploying troops to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission on the night martial law was declared.

Yeo and Lee are believed to face removal from office, the toughest level of disciplinary action.

Kwak is said to face dismissal, the second-highest level of punishment imposed, in consideration of his efforts to help restore constitutional order and uncover the truth behind the martial law through testimonies at Yoon ‘s trials.

Meanwhile, a former Army vice chief of staff was also reportedly handed the second-highest level of disciplinary action, while a colonel with the Defence Counterintelligence Command was given a two-month suspension.

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