South Korea’s deposed prime minister told parliament on Thursday that “everyone” in a hastily scheduled ministerial meeting had concerns about President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law proposal before it was revealed on December 3. Han Duck-soo, who temporarily served as acting president after Yoon was impeached and suspended from office on December 14 before being impeached himself, appeared in parliament on Thursday alongside acting President Choi Sang-mok, the finance minister, to answer questions about their roles in the surprise martial law decision. “Everyone objected, expressed concern, and raised the issues with this decision with the president,” Han told a special committee, referring to the meeting in which Yoon informed some cabinet members of his intention to declare martial law.

The martial law lasted about six hours before Yoon reversed it in response to resistance from parliament, but it sent shockwaves across Asia’s fourth-largest economy and caused a spiraling political crisis. Choi told the committee that the country’s current main challenges are people’s livelihoods and changes in the international order. “There’s the need to stabilize government administration,” he told me. Yoon appeared on Thursday for a hearing in his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to reinstate or remove him from office forever. Senior military officers testified in court regarding their involvement in the deployment to parliament that night. “My job was to block the parliament building and the members’ hall, and secure the quorum needed to vote down the martial law decree

Kwak took the stand in court later on Thursday, facing Yoon in the same courtroom. Kwak states that Yoon ordered him to “drag out” politicians, but that Yoon did not urge him to protect civilians or withdraw his forces, which contradicts Yoon’s assertions. Yoon has bluntly rejected any misconduct, including allegations of attempted political arrests. He has defended his right to declare martial law two months ago as the head of state. Yoon is in jail and facing a separate criminal prosecution on insurrection accusations.