Yoon, who has been held in a solitary cell since his arrest last week on charges of insurrection and abuse of power over the debacle, met with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who also appeared as a witness at the hearing.
It was Yoon's first encounter with Kim, who was allegedly conspiring with the president for the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, mobilizing military commanders and soldiers, which ended up with a short-lived late-night fiasco.
During the hearing, Yoon said, "The plaintiff claims it was a failed martial law, but it was not. I myself thought it would end quickly, but it just ended faster than expected.
He then explained that the National Assembly swiftly voted to lift martial law, prompting him to immediately order the withdrawal of military personnel, claiming that he had only mobilized the minimum level of military forces and that no laws were broken.
He also confessed that he was the one who drafted the decree for the martial law declaration, not Yoon, and passed a relevant memo to the current Acting President Choi Sang-mok, to let him to prepare for the allocation of a budget for emergency funding.
Meanwhile, Yoon's legal representatives said that Yoo will continue to attend all remaining hearings, as long as circumstances permit.
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