Former President Yoon Suk Yeol will receive his first court verdict this week over obstruction of justice and other charges tied to his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024. The Seoul Central District Court has scheduled the sentencing hearing for 2 p.m. Friday and approved live broadcasts due to public interest. This marks the first sentencing among the eight cases he faces.
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's trials stem from his declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024, which lasted only briefly before being lifted. Friday's sentencing focuses on charges of special obstruction of public duty and related offenses connected to that failed bid. These include blocking investigators from executing an arrest warrant against him in January 2025, violating the rights of nine Cabinet members by excluding them from a meeting to review the martial law plan, and drafting and destroying a revised proclamation after the decree was rescinded.
Last month, special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team sought a 10-year prison term, accusing the ousted leader of "privatizing" a national agency to cover up and justify his actions. In his closing statement, Yoon defended deploying the Presidential Security Service to thwart the detention, stating that "presidential security cannot be too excessive, no matter the extent it goes." The initial attempt to detain him failed, but he was ultimately arrested on January 15, 2025, 12 days later.
This hearing precedes a verdict in his insurrection trial, set for February 19 by another bench at the Seoul Central District Court. On Tuesday, the special counsel demanded the death penalty for leading an insurrection via the martial law declaration. Yoon faces six more cases, including probes into corruption allegations involving his wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, and alleged interference in the investigation of a Marine's death in 2023, handled by two separate special counsel teams.
Given the high public interest, the court has approved live broadcasts of the proceedings, underscoring the case's significance in South Korea's political landscape.
