[News Today] Yoon’s remark echoed in his own trial

[LEAD]
At his second court hearing on insurrection charges, former President Yoon Suk Yeol heard pointed testimony from a military commander. As a witness, he said he refused to carry out an unjust order. Towards Yoon, he left a familiar phrase by Yoon Suk Yeol himself, "I don't pledge allegiance to a person".

[REPORT]
This famous remark made in 2013 pushed then-prosecutor Yoon Suk Yeol into celebrity status.

Yoon Suk Yeol / Then head of Suwon Prosecutors' Office Yeoju branch (2013)
I don't pledge allegiance to a person. That's why I'm saying this today.

Twelve years later, now the former president heard those same words from a military commander during his ongoing insurrection trial.

Kim Hyung-ki, commander of the Special Warfare Command's First Special Forces Battalion said what hasn't changed in his 23 year military career is defending the country and the people. And he empathized that he doesn't pay allegiance to a person.

Echoing Yoon's past remark, Kim is seen to have made the point that he could not follow an unjust order.

The commander also asked to be punished for the charge of insubordination instead of his subordinates.

Former President Yoon who had remained silent also spoke up towards the end of the hearing.

He likened martial law to a knife, with its neutral value, that is used both in cooking and crime. He said using a knife does not automatically imply murder.

By saying so, Yoon appears to have opposed the argument that martial law equals insurrection.

Meanwhile the prosecution requested the Constitutional Court verdict which ousted Yoon from office to be used as evidence in the trial.

Twenty-eight hearings have been set through the end of the year with dates finalized. The next third hearing takes place on May 12th.