A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison for charges including obstructing attempts to arrest him following his failed bid to impose martial law.
The Seoul Central District Court said it found Yoon guilty of obstructing authorities from executing an arrest warrant related to his martial law declaration in December 2024, a live broadcast of the ruling showed.
He was also found guilty of charges that include fabricating official documents and failing to comply with the legal process required for martial law.
Yoon’s Martial Law
The ruling is the first of the verdicts in four trials related to the criminal charges Yoon faces over his botched martial law declaration. Although short-lived, the move triggered nationwide turmoil, sparking protests as MPs rushed to the national assembly to overturn Yoon’s decision, reported the BBC.
This ruling offers clues as to how the rest of Yoon’s trials could go. His string of charges ranges from abuse of power to campaign law violations.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that on Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun at Seoul’s Central District Court said he found Yoon guilty of obstruction of justice by blocking investigators from detaining him.
The report added that Yoon was also found guilty of excluding cabinet members from a martial law planning meeting.
“Despite having a duty, above all others, to uphold the constitution and observe the rule of law as president, the defendant instead displayed an attitude that disregarded the constitution,” Baek said.
“The defendant’s culpability is extremely grave,” he said.
Ringleader
But Yoon was not guilty of forging official documents due to a lack of evidence, the judge said.
Yoon has seven days to appeal, he added.
Prosecutors had called for a 10-year prison term, while Yoon had insisted no law was broken.
It comes days after prosecutors in a separate case demanded Yoon be sentenced to death for his role as the “ringleader of an insurrection” in orchestrating the imposition of martial law, according to a SCMP report.
(with inputs from Reuters)
