 ▲ 윤석열 대통령이 23일 오후 2시 서울 종로구 헌법재판소 대심판정에서 열린 탄핵심판 4차 변론기일에 출석해 있다. © 뉴시스 |
윤석열 대통령이 23일 헌법재판소 탄핵심판 변론기일에 직접 출석한 가운데 계엄 후 첫 출석한 변론기일(1·21)에 이어 두 번째다. 윤 대통령은 이날 증인으로 출석한 김용현 전 국방장관을 직접 심문하며 포고령 작성경위 등을 묻기도 했다.
윤 대통령은 이날 오후 서울 종로구 헌재 대심판정에서 열린 4차 변론기일에 출석해 "(12·3 비상)계엄 선포 이유는 주권자인 국민에게 호소하기 위한 것"이라며 "야당 독주 경고를 위해 계엄을 선포한 게 아니다"고 밝혔다.
또 김 전 장관에 대한 증인심문 과정에 자신의 법률대리인단 윤갑근 변호사의 "특전사가 국회의사당 본회의장에 280명 들어갔느냐?"란 질문에 김 전 장관이 "그렇게 보고 받았다"고 답하자 중간에 "회의장이 아니라 본관에 들어간 숫자"라고 정정했다.
김 전 장관이 '본회의장에 들어간 숫자가 280명'으로 잘못 답변한 것을 듣고 이를 정정하기 위해 중간에 직접 심문 과정에 참여한 것이다.
이어 "특전사 요원들이 본관 건물 안으로 한 20여명 들어가는 사진을 봤다"며 "거기서 제지하고 소화기를 쏘니 다들 이렇게 나오던데 특전사 요원들이 장관님 보시기에 본관 건물 밖에 마당에 주로 있었나 아니면 본관 건물 안으로 많은 인원이 다 들어가 있었나?"라고 묻자 김 전 장관은 "280명은 본관 안쪽·복도 등 곳곳에 있었다"고 답했다.
더불어 포고령 작성 경위 관련해선 "계엄이란 게 길어야 하루 이상 유지되기 어려우니까 포고령 1호가 실현·집행 가능성이 없지만 상징성이 있으니 놔둡시다'라 했고, 전공의 왜 집어넣었냐 웃으며 얘기하니 이것도 그런 측면서 계도 차원에서 그냥 넣었다 그래서 저도 웃으며 놔뒀는데 기억하세요?"라고 하자 김 전 장관은 "지금 말씀하시니 기억납니다"라고 답했다.
윤 대통령은 "국회 독재가 이런 망국적 위기 상황 주범이란 차원에서 질서 유지·상징성 측면에서 군을 국회에 투입했고, 그와 연관해 민주당을 생각했던 것"이라며 "중앙선관위를 스크린해보라 했는데 거기는 이 부정선거 시스템 중 한 축을 담당하는 게 여심위(여론조사심의위원회)·여론조사 문제점 이런 것들이 같이 있기 때문에 대표적으로 연관해 골랐던 거죠?'라고 묻자 김 전 장관은 "그렇습니다. 맞습니다"라고 답했다.
그러면서 "그런데 계엄 선포날 저녁 그 얘기 저한테 말해서 제가 절대 하지마라, 민주당 보낼 거면 국민의힘도 보내야 한다고 그건 안 된다. 여론조사 '꽃'도 제가 자른 거 들으셨나?"라고 묻자 김 전 장관은 "네 나중에 들었습니다"고 했고 윤 대톨령이 거듭 "여기 들여보내면 안 된다"라고 말한 점을 짚자 김 전 장관은 "나중에 지시하신 거 들었습니다"라고 답했다.
아래는 위 기사를 '구글 번역'으로 번역한 영문 기사의 [전문]입니다. '구글번역'은 이해도 높이기를 위해 노력하고 있습니다. 영문 번역에 오류가 있을 수 있음을 전제로 합니다.<*The following is [the full text] of the English article translated by 'Google Translate'. 'Google Translate' is working hard to improve understanding. It is assumed that there may be errors in the English translation.
President Yoon Seok-yeol: "Reason for Declaring Martial Law on December 3rd is to Appeal to the People Who Are Sovereign"
Constitutional Court 4th Argument: "Martial law was not declared to warn the opposition party of its dominance. Martial law cannot be maintained for more than a day at most, so there is no possibility of implementing or enforcing Proclamation No. 1, but we decided to leave it alone for symbolic reasons."
-kihong Kim reporter
President Yoon Seok-yeol attended the impeachment trial hearing at the Constitutional Court on the 23rd, his second appearance following the first hearing after martial law (January 21). President Yoon also questioned former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who appeared as a witness that day, and asked him about the circumstances surrounding the drafting of the proclamation.
At the 4th hearing held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul that afternoon, President Yoon stated, “The reason for declaring martial law (on December 3rd) was to appeal to the sovereign people,” and “Martial law was not declared to warn the opposition party of its dominance.”
In addition, during the witness examination of former Minister Kim, when his legal representative, attorney Yoon Gap-geun, asked, “Did 280 special forces enter the main conference hall of the National Assembly?”, former Minister Kim answered, “That’s what I was told,” and he corrected himself, saying, “The number entered the main building, not the conference hall.”
He heard that former Minister Kim had incorrectly answered that "the number of people who entered the main conference hall was 280," and participated in the interrogation process in order to correct this.
He then said, "I saw a photo of about 20 special forces agents entering the main building," and asked, "When they stopped them and fired fire extinguishers, they all came out like this. Were the special forces agents mostly outside the main building in the yard, or were there many people inside the main building?" When asked, former Minister Kim replied, "The 280 people were inside the main building, in the hallway, and elsewhere."
In addition, regarding the circumstances surrounding the writing of the proclamation, he said, "Martial law cannot last more than a day, so Proclamation No. 1 is unlikely to be implemented or executed, but it is symbolic, so let's leave it alone." When the resident asked with a smile why he included it, he said, "I just included it for the sake of guidance, so I laughed and left it alone. Do you remember?" When asked, former Minister Kim replied, "Now that you mention it, I remember."
President Yoon said, "In terms of the dictatorship of the National Assembly being the main culprit in this nationally ruinous crisis, I sent the military to the National Assembly in terms of maintaining order and symbolism, and I thought of the Democratic Party in connection with that," and asked, "You asked the Central Election Commission to screen it, but there, one axis of this fraudulent election system is the Public Opinion Survey Deliberation Committee and public opinion poll issues, so you chose them as representative connections?" To this, former Minister Kim replied, "Yes, that's right."
Then, he asked, "But on the evening of the declaration of martial law, you told me not to do that, and I told you not to do it. If you're going to send the Democratic Party, you have to send the People's Power Party too. That won't work. Did you hear that I cut the 'flower' of the public opinion poll?" To this, former Minister Kim replied, "Yes, I heard it later." When he pointed out that President Yoon repeatedly said, "You shouldn't let them in here," former Minister Kim replied, "I heard the instructions later."
