The court sentenced President Yoon Suk-yeol to 30 years in prison on the 12th, and President Yoon's legal representatives immediately released a statement stating that "the special prosecutor's investigation, indictment, and trial are acts of treason." [Photo=Yonhap News]

Upon the court's sentencing of President Yoon Suk-yeol to 30 years in prison on the 12th, President Yoon's legal representatives immediately released a statement stating that "the special prosecutor's investigation, indictment, and trial are acts of treason."

President Yoon's legal team argued that "the ROK military's leaflet scattering via drones was a legitimate military operation in response to North Korea's 7,000-piece trash balloon attacks" and pointed out that "the special prosecutor's unreasonable investigation and indictment, which label this as treason, seriously undermine national security."

They further revealed that "North Korea carried out approximately 7,000 trash balloon attacks against the Republic of Korea 33 times from May to November 2024," and stated, "Not only have there been direct damages to the lives and property of our citizens due to North Korea's trash balloon attacks, but it has also caused serious concerns about terrorism and mass casualties at key national facilities such as the National Assembly, airports, the Presidential Office, and foreign embassies."

Moreover, North Korea was equipped with the capability to attach GPS devices to the trash balloons, allowing them to detonate the balloons and release their contents at desired locations and times.

The legal team explained that the military conducted drone operations to respond to these new types of provocations, and that scattering leaflets to North Korea via drones was the lowest level of response the ROK military could undertake.

The legal team also criticized the special prosecutor, stating, "The special prosecutor, under the guise of an investigation, searched and seized the Drone Command, a key component of the three-axis system for protecting our citizens, as well as the MCRC (Main Control and Reporting Center) and the Air Force Operations Command at Osan Air Base." They added that "the investigation into the Drone Command has caused serious confusion in the military's chain of command and response to North Korean provocations."

Furthermore, they criticized the government's dissolution of the Drone Command and the execution of forced investigations into Osan Air Base, stating that this has caused significant confusion in the reliability of the ROK-US combined surveillance and cooperation system, beyond concerns about the ROK-US alliance.

The legal team expressed concern that the special prosecutor's investigation is undermining not only the military's chain of command but also the fundamental nature of the military, which operates on a top-down hierarchy. They stated, "If the military, fearing legal repercussions even from superior officers' orders, becomes hesitant in performing its core duties when faced with enemy threats, deterrence against war or enemy provocations will become impossible, posing a serious security risk."

President Yoon's legal team also stated regarding the special prosecutor, "In the process of investigation and prosecution, they repeatedly cited statements from North Korean figures like Kim Yo-jong and North Korean foreign ministry declarations, effectively using them as the basis for their judgment." They concluded, "It is absolutely unacceptable, both for national security and for the preservation of the free democratic system, for a South Korean investigative agency to evaluate our military's operations based on the propaganda and agitation logic of North Korea, an anti-state organization."

They asserted that criminalizing the Republic of Korea military's legitimate military response based on North Korea's claims and endangering the nation's existence, stating, "We cannot help but question whether the special prosecutor is truly an investigative agency of the Republic of Korea that protects national interests and the system."

Regarding the court's guilty verdict on the treason charges against former President Yoon Suk-yeol, despite these points, the legal team criticized it as "the court accepting the special prosecutor's argument that drew a non-existent framework of treason into the realm of criminal law."

They further declared that the investigation and indictment in this case, which treated military responses and security activities aimed at defending the Republic of Korea as subject to criminal punishment and evaluated them as acts of treason, were unreasonable from the outset.

The legal team stated, "Defining military responses for national defense as crimes and judging our military's operations in response to North Korea's continuous provocations as acts of treason is a disregard for the nation's fundamental duty to protect the security reality of the Republic of Korea and the free democratic system."

Finally, they warned, "The special prosecutor's indictment and today's trial will be recorded as events that have inflicted serious damage on the Republic of Korea's security capabilities and its fundamental order of liberal democracy, and the responsibility and evaluation will ultimately be determined before the strict judgment of history."

Reporter Lim Yo-hee