Ex-President Yoon indicted for election law violation in 2022 campaign

Ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on December 26, 2025, by a special counsel team for violating election law through false statements during his March 2022 presidential campaign as the People Power Party candidate. The charges relate to a December 2021 TV debate where he allegedly lied by denying he introduced a lawyer to a former National Tax Service official. This adds to his ongoing trials over a failed December 2024 martial law declaration and insurrection charges.

The indictment, filed in Seoul by special counsel Min Joong-ki's team, accuses Yoon of misleading voters by claiming during the December 2021 debate that he had not connected a lawyer with the tax official.

Yoon, who was removed from office following his brief martial law bid, faces mounting legal scrutiny. He is currently on trial for insurrection and related offenses stemming from the December 2024 events.

Prosecutors' action emphasizes accountability for public figures' statements during elections and the integrity of South Korea's presidential selection process.

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Illustration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol being questioned by special counsel over martial law justification messages.
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Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was questioned Saturday by a special counsel team over allegations he directed messages to allies to justify his martial law declaration.

The Seoul High Court is set to deliver its verdict on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in a live-televised hearing on former President Yoon Suk Yeol's obstruction of justice and other charges. A lower court had sentenced him to five years in prison, a ruling appealed by both Yoon and special counsel Cho Eun-suk, who seeks a 10-year term.

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The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol for obstructing justice by blocking investigators from detaining him after his 2024 martial law declaration.

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A Seoul court on Thursday sentenced former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong to one and a half years in prison for perjury. He was found guilty of giving false testimony about martial law documents linked to former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

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