Legal counsel for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun denied their client's treason charges, claiming that martial law declaration is part of the president's inherent governing authority granted by the Constitution.
In a statement on Friday, Kim's lawyers said calling the president's martial law declaration an insurrection and attempts to investigate the incident and indict those involved are acts of "treason" that lead to constitutional disorder.
Referring to President Yoon Suk Yeol's address to the nation from the previous day, in which Yoon pledged to fight such attempts until the end, Kim's legal counsel said their client intends to fight alongside the president to protect the Constitution.
The lawyers claimed that only the president can decide whether a situation has fulfilled requirement for martial law decree and that such governing authority can not be subject of judgment by the judiciary.
They said the only constitutional control against martial law decree is parliament's exercise of right to request revocation, which the president respected.
Kim was placed under pretrial detention earlier in the week on suspicion of advising Yoon to declare unconstitutional and unlawful martial law and ordering martial law commanders to deploy troops to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission.