Ousted South Korea defence minister testifies he wanted more expansive martial law than president [Video]

South Korean investigators asked prosecutors to indict detained President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law last month, which the country’s ousted defence minister testified that he wanted a broader military deployment than Yoon.

Yoon defended his actions again as he appeared at a court hearing for the second time Thursday, saying the Dec. 3 martial law decree was only meant to inform the public of the danger of an opposition-controlled National Assembly. He argued that the martial law imposition ended early because he quickly withdrew troops after the assembly voted down his decree.

“The reason for the declaration of martial law wasn’t about a warning to the opposition. I was trying to appeal to the people to draw their strict supervision and criticism of the opposition,” Yoon told a hearing at the Constitutional Court. “No matter how many warnings I would issue to the opposition, they …