Ahn Cheol-soo testifies at Choo trial that police, not party, blocked martial law vote

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo testified in court Wednesday that he missed the National Assembly vote to lift the Dec. 3 emergency martial law because police blocked entry to the Assembly — not because of any obstruction by the party. He also said it was then-party leader Han Dong-hoon who first directed PPP lawmakers to gather at party headquarters rather than the Assembly.

Ahn appeared as a witness at the Seoul Central District Court trial of Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho, who faces insurrection charges. The case was heard by the 34th Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Han Seong-jin.

Ahn said he learned of the martial law declaration at home around 10:30 p.m. that night and immediately headed to the Assembly, arriving around midnight — only to be turned away by police. He then made his way to PPP headquarters.

He also said he received multiple messages sent under Choo's name — then the party's floor leader — asking lawmakers to gather for a general assembly. The messages arrived from around 10:59 p.m. that night until about 12:08 a.m. the following morning.

Ahn testified that the designated meeting place changed several times, shifting from the Assembly to the party's central headquarters, back to the Assembly, and then to headquarters again.

When Choo's defense asked whether he would have gone to party headquarters even without being told to do so — given that police had already blocked his entry to the Assembly — Ahn said yes. "It was the only option available in Yeouido," he said.

He also said that even if a notice was sent calling a general assembly, whether to actually attend remained each individual lawmaker's own decision.

Choo's defense argued on that basis that PPP lawmakers at party headquarters missed the plenary vote for three reasons: police prevented them from entering the Assembly, lawmakers were not gathered in one place and so the party could not set a unified position at a general assembly, and the Assembly speaker called the plenary session immediately under those circumstances. The argument was aimed at showing that Choo, as floor leader, had not obstructed fellow party members from voting to lift the emergency martial law.

Ahn agreed. "It was the police who got in the way — the party did nothing to obstruct anyone," he said.

Prosecutors from the insurrection special prosecutor team pressed Ahn on whether Choo bore responsibility for the fact that most PPP lawmakers missed the vote, given that he had directed them to gather at party headquarters.

The special prosecutor team noted that 90 of the PPP's 108 lawmakers did not participate in the vote, while lawmakers from the Democratic Party and other parties largely did. "If police were blocking entry to the Assembly, lawmakers from other parties should have been kept out too," prosecutors said. "Why were People Power Party members in particular so much less likely to attend?"

Ahn said he found that hard to explain. "I think the Democratic Party had advance information about the martial law," he said, adding that he suspected Democratic Party members may have shared among themselves which part of the perimeter was easier to climb over.

He also said he had heard it was then-party leader Han Dong-hoon who first suggested gathering at headquarters because police were blocking the Assembly, and that Choo had simply followed that lead in directing members there.

"It is not true that Han Dong-hoon told members to gather at the Assembly and Choo Kyung-ho ignored that and told them to go to headquarters instead," Ahn said.

The next hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, will include witness examination of former PPP lawmaker Seo Byeong-su.

Choo faces charges of obstructing the martial law lift vote by repeatedly changing the assembly location after allegedly receiving a request from former President Yoon Suk Yeol's side to cooperate with the martial law declaration.

The special prosecutor team concluded that Choo had deliberately prevented fellow lawmakers from participating in the vote and indicted him without detention in December last year.