▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol sits inside a courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on Jan. 16, 2026, before receiving a five-year prison term on obstruction of justice charges, among others, in this photo provided by the court. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

ex-president-perjury trial

Ex-President Yoon's lawyers deny charges in his perjury trial

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- Lawyers for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was indicted on charges of perjury in connection with a Cabinet meeting held prior to his martial law declaration, denied the charges in court Wednesday.

The lawyers contested the perjury allegations during the first hearing on the case at the Seoul Central District Court, saying Yoon's position from the beginning was that he convened the Cabinet meeting with the intention of actually holding it.

Yoon, who is already standing trial on insurrection and other charges stemming from his failed imposition of martial law in December 2024, is accused of giving the false impression that the Cabinet meeting he convened before declaring martial law was planned even before then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo suggested it.

Yoon made the controversial testimony as a witness in Han's trial last November, and special prosecutors raised suspicion that he belatedly convened the Cabinet meeting to make the martial law declaration appear legitimate.

The defense lawyers said that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun recommended to Yoon from the beginning that the Cabinet meeting is necessary and the former president was aware of the need for the meeting even before that.

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