Police Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho and other senior officials standing trial on insurrection charges in connection with the December 3 martial law incident have denied all the facts in their indictments.

At the first hearing of the trial for Cho and three others on Thursday, Cho’s legal counsel denied that his actions on the night of the martial law incident amounted to an insurrection or that its purpose was to subvert the Constitution.

Although Cho reinforced control of the National Assembly on the night of December 3 on orders from the martial law commander, his lawyer said that Cho had no understanding that the orders, based on the martial law decree, were illegal.

The defense team said Cho cannot be viewed as an accomplice to an insurrection as he made no fundamental contribution.

The legal counsel for former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Bong-sik said the initial deployment of 360 riot police officers does not meet the requirement for an insurrection offense.

The next hearing is set for March 31.