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🇰🇷 South Korea /Crime & Justice

Supreme Court upholds 7-year sentence for ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol over martial law obstruction

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • The Supreme Court upheld a seven-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk-yeol for obstructing justice related to a 2024 martial law declaration.
  • The court rejected Yoon's claims of presidential immunity and his arguments against judicial review of martial law.
  • Yoon's defense team criticized the ruling as politically motivated, while officials involved in enforcing arrest warrants against him were convicted.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, confirming his conviction on charges of obstructing justice during the investigation into his declaration of martial law in December 2024. This landmark ruling marks the Supreme Court’s first decision on the case, delivered 583 days after the events.

The court's decision serves as a strong rebuke to Yoon for defying the lawful enforcement of justice. After martial law was lifted, Yoon remained in the presidential residence, refusing to cooperate with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. He reportedly ordered his security detail to use firearms to block an arrest warrant and invoked presidential immunity from prosecution, citing Article 84 of the Constitution.

As if pressed for time and even failing to convene a full bench hearing, the Supreme Court’s hasty rejection of our appeal is tantamount to politicization of the judiciary.

— Yoon Suk-yeol's defense teamYoon's lawyers criticized the Supreme Court's ruling, alleging political motivation.

However, the Supreme Court dismissed Yoon's defense, stating that presidential immunity does not apply in cases of insurrection or treason and does not prevent investigations into a sitting president. Yoon's arguments that martial law is a presidential prerogative beyond judicial review and that the CIO lacked authority to investigate insurrection were deemed absurd.

Yoon's defense team criticized the ruling, calling the Supreme Court's swift rejection of their appeal "tantamount to politicization of the judiciary." Meanwhile, in a separate ruling the same day, officials who acted on Yoon's orders to obstruct investigators executing an arrest warrant were convicted and taken into custody. These included Park Chong-jun and Kim Seong-hun, top officials of the Presidential Security Service, and Lee Kwang-woo, head of the service’s protection bureau.

Such immunity, however, does not apply to in cases of insurrection or treason, nor does it preclude investigations into the president.

— Supreme CourtThe court explained the limitations of presidential immunity in its ruling.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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