South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol has been found guilty of abuse of power and falsifying documents over his failed martial law bid in 2024.
A Seoul court is now deliberating on whether he also obstructed the course of justice by evading arrest. Prosecutors have sought a 10-year jail term for this set of charges.
This is the first of the verdicts in four trials linked to his shock martial law decree. Although short-lived, the move plunged the country into turmoil, sparking protests as MPs rushed to the national assembly to overturn Yoon’s decision.
Friday’s ruling offers clues as to how the rest of Yoon’s trials could go. Charges range from the abuse of power to campaign law violations.
The most serious charge is insurrection, for which prosecutors have demanded the death penalty. The verdict in that trial is expected in February.
On Friday, the court will decide whether Yoon is guilty of using presidential bodyguards to prevent his arrest; failing to consult his entire cabinet before declaring martial law; drafting and then destroying a falsified document claiming the martial law bid had been endorsed by the prime minister and defence minister.
Yoon denied the charges, arguing that the arrest warrant itself was invalid and that the letter of the law does not require him to consult every member of the cabinet before exercising emergency power.
He has claimed across his trials that investigators had no legal basis to probe and arrest him in the first place. Most of the accusations against him are invalid because there was no procedural lapse when he declared martial law, he argues.
South Korea’s courts often grant leniency when the accused accepts guilt or responsibility. But prosecutors argue that Yoon’s lack of remorse is grounds for an even more severe penalty.
Park Geun-hye, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for abuse of power and bribery in 2021, was the last former president to be jailed for a criminal charge. But she was pardoned and released from prison shortly after.
Six months after Yoon’s martial law attempt, voters elected opposition leader Lee Jae Myung in a decisive victory .
But Yoon’s trials bring the spotlight back to deep divisions in South Korea, where the former president retains strong supporters who see him as a martyr. According to a survey conducted last December, nearly 30% of South Koreans did not believe that Yoon’s martial law declaration amounted to an insurrection.
While his martial law attempt brought tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets, it also saw his supporters show up in counter protests, though in smaller numbers.
On Friday, around 100 pro-Yoon protesters gathered outside the court in Seoul ahead of the verdict.
