South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol, who is accused of sedition against the state, was released from prison on March 8.
The Associated Press (AP) writes about this.
The day before, a Seoul court overturned his arrest. The president was greeted by his supporters with posters and flags. After his release, Yoon Seok Yeol went to his residence in the capital.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol greets his supporters after being released from prison.
Yoon Seok Yeol was being held at the Uiwan detention center, south of Seoul, when he was transferred there on January 15.
The president will still have to stand trial. He is accused of sedition for imposing martial law on December 3, 2024. Sedition carries a life sentence or the death penalty, but South Korea has not carried out death sentences for years.
What preceded
South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol declared martial law in the country on the night of December 3-4, 2024, to “protect the constitutional order” — the first time since the 1980s. The reason was that the opposition Democratic Party of South Korea, which has a majority in parliament, rejected the government’s budget proposal and decided to impeach the state auditor and the attorney general.
In total, martial law lasted about six hours, but it caused a sharp internal crisis — now the president is being called to resign. On December 8, he was informed of suspicion of treason and abuse of power and banned from traveling abroad.
On December 14, 2024, the South Korean parliament approved a bill to impeach President Yoon Seok Yeol. The countryʼs acting president is currently being served by Finance Minister Choi Sang Mok.
There was an attempt to detain the president on January 3, 2025, but his security prevented this. On January 15, he was detained in a second attempt.
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