Former President Yoon Seok Yeol was sentenced to five years in prison on January 16 on charges that included obstructing investigatorsʼ attempt to detain him last year.
Yonhap writes about this.
The main charge in the case was that Yeol ordered the Presidential Security Service to prevent investigators from executing a warrant for his arrest at the official presidential residence in January of last year.
This is only the first sentence, in total eight criminal cases have been filed against him. The decision in the martial law case is due to be announced on February 19, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Yeol.
Martial law in South Korea
On the night of December 3-4, 2024, then-President of South Korea Yoon Seok-Yeol declared martial law in the country to “protect the constitutional order” — the first time since the 1980s. The reason was that the opposition Democratic Party, 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 caused an acute internal crisis.
On January 15, 2025, Yoon Seok Yeol was arrested. He is currently in a detention center. He is accused of sedition, abuse of power, and aiding an enemy state.
South Koreaʼs Constitutional Court removed Yoon Seok Yeol from office in a unanimous verdict on April 4.
Former South Korean first lady Kim Geun Hee was arrested on August 13 on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, election interference, and bribery. She and former President Yoon Seok Yeol became the first former presidential spouses to be detained at the same time.
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