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A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former President Yun Suk-yeol to five years in prison on charges of obstructing authorities’ attempts to arrest him in December 2024 in an attempt to impose martial law.
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of coordinating with the president’s security service to block officials from executing a lawfully issued court-issued arrest warrant to investigate his declaration of martial law.
In a televised trial, he was found guilty of charges of falsifying official documents and failing to comply with due process under military law.
The verdict is Yoon’s first with a criminal charge over a declaration of broken martial law.
“The defendant abused his enormous influence as president by preventing the execution of lawful warrants by security service officials, effectively privatizing officials … for the personal security and personal gain of those loyal to the Republic of Korea,” said the presiding judge of the three-judge panel.
Speaking outside the court immediately after the decision, one of Yoon’s lawyers, Yoo Jung-hwa, said the former president will appeal the decision. “We express our regret that the decision was made politically,” she said.
can Facing the death sentence In a separate trial on charges of organizing riots by declaring martial law without reason.
Yun argued that he had the power as president to declare martial law and that the move was aimed at dissuading the government from opposition parties.
Yoon, who denied Friday’s plea, could face up to 10 years in prison on a charge of obstruction after he beat himself to death in his compound in January last year and ordered the security service to block investigators.
They were arrested and charged
He was finally arrested in a second attempt involving more than 3,000 police officers. Yoon’s arrest is the first for a sitting South Korean president.
Parliament, joined by some members of the EU’s conservative party, voted within hours to repeal the surprise martial law and later suspended it.
In April of last year, he was removed from his position by the Constitutional Court, who violated the duties of the office.
Yoon’s proposal to impose martial law lasted just six hours, but sent shockwaves through South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a key US security ally and one of the world’s strongest democracies.