"Nothing really happened": President Yoon denies major martial law allegations at impeachment trial

The Constitutional Court has held its fifth hearing of President Yoon's impeachment trial, with three key witnesses in attendance.

Eyebrows were raised on some of the clashing statements.

Our Oh Soo-young has the details.

President Yoon Suk Yeol insists "nothing really happened" on the night of his Martial Law on December third, denying that he issued orders to drag out legislators from parliament and arrest political figures.

This came on Tuesday at the President's fifth impeachment trial hearing at the Constitutional Court, where three witnesses testified regarding the execution of martial law on December 3rd last year.

There were clear discrepancies over whether the President directly ordered the most controversial actions on that fateful night.

Lee Jin-woo, former commander of the Capital Defense Command, reportedly told investigators he received three calls from the President to enter the National Assembly by force, opening fire if necessary, and drag out legislators to stop their vote to overturn martial law.

But at the hearing, Lee refused to confirm or answer most questions about whether he had received calls or orders from the President.

He denied he'd been ordered by Yoon himself to arrest lawmakers, and said former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun did not order troops to enter the Assembly building and prevent a vote to lift martial law.

Former Defense Counterintelligence Command Chief Yeo In-hyung also testified while under arrest, but avoided answering key questions.

He previously said he had received orders to arrest and detain political figures.

Meanwhile, former First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Hong Jang-won reiterated his previous statement, saying Yoon called for a "total clean up," which he believed meant the arrest of politicians.

Hong claims he called Yeo In-hyung to clarify and received fourteen to sixteen names of figures to arrest, and was asked to track down their whereabouts.

Yoon's side argued that the President meant for him to clear up spies, and their phone call had nothing to do with martial law.

They added that since the NIS does not have investigative authority, Hong would not have been asked for location tracing, thus his claims do not make sense.

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

The Court did not allow him to question witnesses himself, as he did in the previous hearing.

But when given the chance to speak, Yoon showed cynicism over the questions, emphasising that "nothing had happened."

He once again appeared to deny he'd ordered the physical removal of lawmakers from the National Assembly and the arrest of politicians.

He argued he'd ordered troops to withdraw as the martial law had ended "early", and given the disorderly state of the National Assembly, there was no way for him to issue such instructions.

But,.. he admitted he'd ordered troops to go the National Election Commission, once again, suggesting suspicions of election fraud, as a pretext for declaring martial law.

"The President either didn't know the election commission is a constitutional institution that cannot be arbitrarily controlled even under martial law, or he knowingly ignored this fact. That alone is a serious constitutional violation."

The National Assembly side said while some testimonies do not add up, the ongoing investigations speak for themselves.

The Court has so far has approved 15 witnesses with eight from Yoon's team and seven from the National Assembly’s side.

The rest of the 30 plus witnesses requested by Yoon were rejected on Tuesday.

"We will conduct a thorough review, reapply for witness approvals if necessary, and explore other possible legal strategies."

"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 summon more witnesses for cross-checking and verification, due to the conflicting narratives.

The next hearing will take place on Thursday, with four witnesses to testify.

Oh Soo-young, Arirang News."