Live: President Yoon denies major martial law allegations at impeachment trial, claiming 'nothing really happened'

Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.

We start today at the Constitutional Court where the fifth hearing of the impeachment trial against President Yoon Suk Yeol began this afternoon.

For more, our correspondent Oh Soo-young is standing by live.

Soo-young , today's hearing's still ongoing and it includes a line-up of key witnesses and eyes are on what they said.

Yes, the fifth hearing of President Yoon's trial began at 2 PM today with the President in attendance, and three testimonies of 90 minutes each.

Now, the three witnesses today included key figures involved in executing the December 3rd Martial Law.

Based on their previous statements, the focus of the questions today is on whether they were ordered to: break into the National Assembly, prevent a parliamentary vote to revoke martial law, and arrest key political figures.

First up was Lee Jin-woo, former commander of the Capital Defense Command, who is currently under arrest.

Lee has reportedly said he'd receive phone calls from Yoon to enter the National Assembly by force, firing weapons if necessary, and drag out legislators to stop them from overturning martial law.

However, when he showed up at the Court today, he denied he'd been ordered by Yoon to arrest lawmakers.

He also said he was not ordered by former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun to enter the Assembly building and prevent a vote to lift martial law.

Lee refused to confirm or answer most questions posed by the National Assembly about whether he had received calls or orders from President Yoon, despite records showing he stated Yoon called him three times.

Former Chief of the Defence Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung also testified while under arrest.

He reportedly received orders to "arrest and detain key figures, including opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and former ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon."

But he also avoided answering key questions, citing his ongoing legal case.

The questioning of former Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Hong Jang-won also began.

He reiterated what he'd previously stated at the National Assembly, that he'd been ordered to "clear up completely" but wasn't sure who or what the target was.

Q2. So it seems the questioning session had some twists and turns, with President Yoon commenting as well.

That's right. There were clearly some discrepancies in the testimonies compared to investigation records, showing the need for the justices to verify whether the President directly issued orders on the night of the martial law.

As for the President, he spent most of the trial with his eyes closed.

The Court banned him from questioning witnesses today, so he was unable to address his former officials himself as he did with the former Defence Minister.

But when given the chance to speak, Yoon showed cynicism with the questioning, emphasizing that "nothing had happened," and that discussing whether instructions were given or received seemed pointless.

He once again cast doubt over allegations that he'd ordered lawmakers to be dragged out of the National Assembly, and for political figures to be detained.

He said he'd ordered troops to be pulled out, and that soldiers deployed that evening must have misinterpreted directions from him and the Defence Minister.

But,.. he also said he'd told the former Defense Minister to send troops to the National Election Commission, once again, raising suspicions of election fraud, as a pretext for declaring martial law.

During his previous hearings, the President has denied the major allegations that he'd ordered martial law decrees to be executed.

It may be tough to tell but when can we expect an actual verdict?

Well, for now, there are three more hearings scheduled until next Thursday, but it's unclear whether the Constitutional Court will be able to wrap up the case by then, or choose to hear from more witnesses, which would inevitably prolong the trial.

The conflicting testimonies may require more witnesses for cross-checking and verification of whether Yoon directly issued martial law orders, whether the decrees were unconstitutional, and whether he had pre-planned the martial law.

Yoon's team has applied for at least 31 witnesses, and the Court is still reviewing the candidates.

Also, as Yoon's representatives continue to challenge the Court's proceedings, experts say the trial could be lengthened.

However, most believe the ruling will be made before two justices retire from the bench on April 18th, to avoid further procedural delays and complications.

All right Soo-young thank you for that coverage.

That was our Oh Soo-young with the latest on the president's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.