The former head of the secret service has cited the Presidential Security Act to justify his actions to shield ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol from arrest over his 2024 martial law move.

Former Presidential Security Service Chief Park Chong-jun denied the charges against him on Friday during the first preparatory hearing in a trial for officials who served in the secret service at the time of the January 2025 standoff with law enforcement.

Park did not dispute the objective facts in the indictment, but said there was no criminal intent on his part since he believed law enforcement acted illegally in trying to enter the presidential premises to execute the arrest warrant without his authorization.

He said even if the execution of the warrant was legal, his own actions would only constitute an error of judgment.

Former Presidential Security Service Vice Chief Kim Sung-hoon admitted to the abuse of power charge for his role in the installation of barriers such as barbed-wire fences and a wall of vehicles, but denied another charge alleging he deleted phone records illegally.

The special counsel team that investigated Yoon’s martial law action requested as evidence the recent ruling against the former president in which Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison, in part for mobilizing government agencies to obstruct his own arrest.