Yoon Suk-yeol's First Supreme Court Ruling Today: Key Issues Include 'Obstruction of Arrest' and 'Foreign Press Release'

The Supreme Court is scheduled to announce its verdict on the appeal case of former President Yoon Suk-yeol on September 9th, 583 days after the declaration of emergency martial law. This marks the first high court judgment concerning Yoon's alleged obstruction of an investigation into the 12.12 emergency martial law.

Yoon faces charges including obstruction of official duties and abuse of power, stemming from his alleged actions to prevent the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) from executing an arrest warrant during the investigation. Both the first and second trials found him guilty. The courts rejected Yoon's argument that the CIO lacked the authority to investigate sedition, ruling that the investigation was legally sound as it began with abuse of power charges, which fall under the CIO's direct investigative scope, and expanded to related crimes like sedition.

A significant focus of the Supreme Court's review will be the conviction for issuing a 'false foreign press release.' The appellate court found Yoon guilty of abuse of power for instructing the foreign press secretary to draft and distribute a misleading press release stating that the National Assembly's access was not blocked. This overturned the first instance ruling, which had acquitted Yoon on this charge, stating the press secretary had no obligation to verify the truthfulness of the release.

The Supreme Court's decision on the abuse of power charge related to the press release will be a critical aspect of the appeal. The court plans to live-stream the sentencing, a first for a non-en banc case, reflecting the public interest in the proceedings. Yoon is not expected to attend the hearing, as defendants are not required to be present.