The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 34, presided over by Chief Judge Han Seong-jin, held the second hearing in Rep. Choo's trial on the 17th and summoned Rep. Kim and Rep. Shin Dong-wook as witnesses.
Recalling the moment martial law troops entered the National Assembly main building, Kim said members of the People Power Party reacted by saying things like, "The president has lost his mind," "He misjudged this," and "Shouldn't we lift martial law quickly?"
Kim described Choo as a long-serving bureaucrat and said he did not believe Choo knew about the martial law declaration in advance.
He added that even if Choo had known beforehand, there would have been no clear benefit to him in defending the declaration, so Kim said he did not believe Choo would have supported it.
On why People Power Party lawmakers did not enter the plenary hall to vote on lifting martial law, Kim said they were unable to get in because martial law troops had arrived and the police had sealed off access, not because they declined to enter.
Kim also said that amid the initial confusion many lawmakers assumed the police were only there to maintain order and would not arrest politicians. Given that, moving the party meeting to the party office may have been a reasonable decision at the time.
Shin testified that Choo repeatedly told colleagues, "I don't really know either," and "I'm sorry I can't tell you."
On Dec. 4, 2024—the day after the martial law declaration—Rep. Choo, then the People Power Party floor leader, is accused of deliberately obstructing the vote to lift martial law by repeatedly changing the location of the party meeting at the behest of Yoon's camp.
The special prosecution team investigating the insurrection, led by Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok, concluded that Choo, acting on a request from Yoon, intentionally impeded fellow lawmakers from attending the vote. He was indicted last December on charges of carrying out key duties related to an insurrection but was not detained.
