Seoul, Jan 12 A Seoul court on Monday held the first hearing of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial on charges of benefiting the enemy over allegations of dispatching military drones to Pyongyang in 2024.
The hearing took place at the Seoul Central District Court behind closed doors, with Yoon, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Yeo In-hyung, former head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command, in attendance.
Yoon and the two others have been indicted on charges of aiding the enemy in connection with the alleged drone dispatch to North Korea's capital in October 2024, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team believes the alleged dispatch was aimed at inciting the North's retaliation, which could then be used as a pretext for Yoon's martial law declaration two months later.
The team charged Yoon with "benefiting the enemy in general," based on its judgment that the drone dispatch led to the leak of military secrets to the North when they allegedly crashed near Pyongyang.
The court's bench said it would decide every session whether to proceed with the trial behind closed doors, citing state secrets involved in the case.
The ousted former president is standing trial on multiple charges in connection with his failed martial law bid, including for leading an insurrection.
Meanwhile, a court on Friday postponed hearing the sentencing request for former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched imposition of martial law to next week, following delayed proceedings earlier in the day.
The bench overseeing Yoon's trial at the Seoul Central District Court announced the decision during what was supposed to be the final hearing, saying it would schedule an additional session next Tuesday to hear the sentencing request of special counsel Cho Eun-suk and Yoon's final statement.
Friday's session had been watched closely as the special counsel team had been expected to request one of three types of punishment allowed by law for the ringleader of an insurrection -- the death penalty, life imprisonment or life imprisonment without forced labour.
Yoon was indicted last January on charges of leading an insurrection through his December 3, 2024, declaration of martial law.
The hearing had been expected to run late into the night as a total of eight defendants, including the ousted president, were scheduled to present their final statements and have their lawyers deliver closing arguments.
The seven defendants, aside from Yoon, include former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho, who are accused of playing a key role in an insurrection through their involvement in the brief execution of martial law.
The session ran longer than expected, however, as Kim's lawyers, who went first, spent more than 10 hours examining paper evidence.
After 9 pm, the bench announced it would end the session after the seven defendants, aside from Yoon, completed their respective paper evidence examination and closing arguments, and postponed the special counsel's sentencing recommendation and closing arguments, as well as Yoon's final statement, to next Tuesday.
Legal sources anticipate the court's sentencing will come in early February.
Yoon is charged with conspiring with the former defence minister and others to stage a riot with the aim of subverting the Constitution by illegally declaring martial law in the absence of war or an equivalent national emergency.
In particular, he is charged with mobilising troops and the police to seal off the National Assembly compound and prevent lawmakers from voting down his decree, and ordering the arrest and detention of the National Assembly speaker and the then leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties.
Yoon became the first sitting president to be indicted with physical detention in January last year.
He was released in March following a court order that cancelled his arrest, but was taken into custody again in July on additional charges related to his martial law attempt.
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