May 13, 2025
SEOUL – The Capital Defense Command’s high-ranking official Oh Sang-bae appeared at the third hearing in the former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s criminal trial on Monday, testifying that he had heard Yoon considering a second attempt to impose martial law.
On the night of the martial law declaration, Oh rode to the National Assembly in the same vehicle as Lt. Gen. Lee Jin-woo, then commander of the Capital Defense Command. Oh testified that during the ride, he overheard the president order the commander via a secure phone to have the troops break into the National Assembly building even after the motion to revoke the emergency martial law declaration was passed. According to Oh, Yoon said he could “declare martial law again for the second and third time if needed.”
The military official explained that he could clearly hear Yoon’s voice on the phone.
“I heard four phone calls between the former President Yoon and Commander Lee on the day martial law was declared. I clearly recognized it because the secure phone displayed the caller’s name reading ‘President,’” said Oh during the hearing of Yoon’s criminal trial on insurrection charges at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul.
Oh recalled that the president ordered Lee and the troops to enter the building and have four men drag a lawmaker out of the National Assembly.
The military official insisted that the president ordered Lee to have the troops break down the door with gunfire if necessary and get inside the building to drag the lawmakers out.
“In the fourth call, I heard the former president saying that we (the Capital Defense Command) needed to continue our effort to get inside the National Assembly building even if the motion to lift the martial law was passed. He said he could declare martial law two or three more times,” said Oh.
Though he initially believed that the former president was acting within legal boundaries and would take responsibility, Oh felt betrayed after Seok Dong-hyun, one of Yoon’s legal representatives, denied all martial law-related allegations, including Yoon’s arrest attempt.
The court approved Oh’s statements to the prosecution as evidence. But it decided to record the objection from Yoon’s legal team, claiming the records were unlawfully obtained by the prosecutors.
Yoon made public appearances at the Seoul court’s entrance before and after Monday’s hearing, as the court banned the use of the underground parking lot, which he had previously used to avoid the press.
When asked whether he would apologize for declaring martial law or whether he had ordered troops to storm the National Assembly — even by force if necessary — the former president remained silent.