A Seoul court in charge of an insurrection trial of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others is set to publicly proceed with witnesses questioning starting Friday afternoon.

The Seoul Central District Court convened a trial hearing at 10 a.m. for the former minister, as well as former Defense Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won and former DIC colonel Kim Yong-gun over their alleged pursuit of key tasks in the insurrection.

Since March 27, the previous five hearings in the trial were held behind closed doors, with the court citing a guarantee of national security.

The court said Friday that, until that morning, agencies with which the appearing witnesses were affiliated had permitted their testimony only behind closed doors in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act.

Questioning of Koo Sam-hoe, commander of the Army's Second Armored Brigade, Friday afternoon will likely be open to the public as there was no issue with the head of his agency regarding permission to publicly testify.