The former president, Yoon Suk-yeol, who was charged with lying under oath during the trial of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s sedition case, was found not guilty in the initial court proceeding.
The Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 32 (Presiding Judge Ryu Kyung-jin) conducted a sentencing hearing on the 28th and decided, “The prosecution’s claims in this case are categorized as insufficient evidence of an offense,” leading to his acquittal from the charges.
The court remarked, “If former President Yoon had intended to first gather six participants from the presidential office meeting on December 3, 2024, and subsequently call in members of the State Council to the presidential office, his claim that ‘he aimed to hold a Cabinet meeting with a proper quorum from the start’ is simply an opinion or personal assessment about the legal validity of the gathering.” It further noted, “This statement is hard to see as a contradiction to factual recollection, and therefore does not amount to perjury.”
The court stated, “Perjury occurs if a witness provides a statement that contradicts their recollection of actual events they have experienced. Comments on personal assessments of those events or views about legal correctness are not considered perjury.”
The court also concluded that, under the conditions prevailing at that time, it was very probable that former President Yoon intended to call upon State Council members from the start, irrespective of the suggestion made by former Prime Minister Han. The court stated, “It seems very likely that former President Yoon had a strategy to gather State Council members from the beginning, regardless of the input from former Prime Minister Han.”
The former President Yoon was charged with allegedly providing false testimony during the trial of the former Prime Minister Han related to insurrection charges last November. He stated, “I had initially planned to convene a Cabinet meeting,” concerning the situation surrounding the Cabinet meeting prior to the December 3 martial law announcement.
During the trial, former President Yoon addressed a query from the Cho Eun-suk insurrection special counsel team—“Did former Prime Minister Han propose, ‘Let’s hold a Cabinet meeting to give a legal impression’?”—by stating, “That’s absurd. Members of the State Council are not tools used just for show, and isn’t this question indicating excessive bias?”
He also mentioned during the trial, “I don’t recall precisely, but I was considering that we had to fulfill the conditions for a Cabinet meeting,” and when questioned by the presiding judge, “Are you implying you had that goal from the start?” he responded, “Yes.”
The special counsel team stated that former President Yoon intended to call only former Prime Minister Han and certain State Council members to notify them about the plan for martial law and related actions, without any intention of holding a Cabinet meeting or gathering additional members to meet the required quorum. They charged him with perjury, asserting that his testimony conflicted with his recollection. During the final hearing on the 16th of last month, the special counsel team had requested a two-year prison sentence.
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