Live: President Yoon claims opposition was trying to "destroy administration," officials back legality of martial law

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

President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial resumed on Tuesday, with more witnesses testifying at the Constitutional Court.

It's the second-to-last hearing, but the fiery debates are showing no signs of ending soon.

We have our Oh Soo-young live to bring us the latest.

So the hearing today began with questions over whether President Yoon declared martial law after correct procedures.

Let's start with the first witness, former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min.

Sure. Former minister Lee Sang-min appeared to back the President's claims that his martial law was legal, against assertions that Yoon had bypassed Cabinet procedures required before declaring the decree.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has claimed a formal Cabinet meeting was not held beforehand, and he had not seen Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun recommend the decree to the Prime Minister, as per the Constitutional requirement for martial law.

Lee said while it wasn't scheduled as a Cabinet meeting, around seven members initially gathered, and waited for the 11-member quorum to be filled.

He said, "Those present would have considered themselves to be in a Cabinet meeting."

Also, in direct contradiction with prosecutors' records, Lee denied he'd asked the National Fire Agency to cut water and power to news organizations, and said he did not receive such orders from Yoon.

While the former minister said he tried to dissuade the President from declaring martial law, he understood where the decision came from.

Yoon himself took to reiterate his claim that the opposition Democratic Party had sabotaged the administration by constantly impeaching officials, and, crucially, cutting the government budget.

Yoon added he believed the martial law proclamation could be signed off on afterwards, given the highly sensitive nature of the decree.

National Security Advisor Shin Won-sik also indicated that a Cabinet meeting had been held, saying he'd been told it was ongoing by Yoon's Chief of Staff Chung Jin-seok.

Questions for the third and fourth witnesses focused on election fraud allegations raised by Yoon as a pretext for declaring martial law.

Former Third Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Baek Jong-wook said the National Election Commission's servers seemed vulnerable to external attack, to the point of a social crisis, but said he wouldn't comment on election fraud as the servers hadn't been examined for related irregularities.

Secretary-General of the National Election Commission Kim Yong-bin also stood witness.

He said he had not been made aware of any false voting ballots, and said various inspections had been conducted ahead of the General Election last year, and it would be virtually impossible to replicate ballots.

Meanwhile,.. the Constitutional Court has yet to decide on additional hearings beyond the final and eighth hearing this coming Thursday.

That's right. In order to conclude the hearings, the bench must hear the closing arguments from both legal teams and President Yoon's final statement.

This would take around two to three hours, and given that four witness testimonies are planned for Thursday, it is unlikely that justices will conclude the hearings then.

Experts say more witnesses are likely to be summoned as some of the main testimonies we've heard so far have caused more confusion due to discrepancies with previous statements made in prosecutorial records or conflicting narratives between witnesses.

While the Court has emphasized its commitment to a speedy trial, there's been concern that back-to-back witness questioning, twice a week doesn't allow much time for a thorough review of the testimonies or evidence.

Still, the opposition has called for a quick end to the trial,.. saying the evidence is out there.

"Our patience is wearing thin. How much longer must we put up with baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud? There's already been enough consideration given to the respondent through this week's witness examination. We hope for a swift conclusion to the proceedings."

Thank you for the latest on the president's impeachment trial.