A Seoul court on Monday granted bail to former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun who has been detained since late last year on charges of insurrection and abuse of power over his alleged role in the Dec. 3 martial law imposition.
The Seoul Central District Court approved the bail after accepting the prosecution's request, despite an objection from Kim's side.
Kim was arrested on Dec. 27 for recommending martial law to former President Yoon Suk Yeol and drafting the decree. He is accused of deploying troops from various units to the National Assembly during martial law to prevent lawmakers from voting to reject Yoon's martial law declaration.
The court set bail at 100 million won ($73,400) and imposed conditions that, among others, ban him from meeting or communicating with Yoon and others related to the martial law case.
Usually, bail is requested by the defendants. In this case, however, the bail request was made by the prosecution.
Kim's six-month statutory detention period was set to expire on June 26, which means he was supposed to be freed only 10 days later without any restrictions.
Kim's objection to the bail was overridden by the court, which apparently seeks to block any unexpected variables that may arise during the ongoing martial law-related trials. (Yonhap)
