Seoul [South Korea], January 16 : Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday was sentenced to five years in prison by the Seoul Central District Court on charges including obstruction of justice, in the first verdict related to his short-lived martial law declaration in December 2024, Yonhap News reported.
According to Yonhap News, the district court ruled that Yoon had obstructed investigators attempting to detain him in January last year, violated the rights of Cabinet members who were not consulted on his martial law plan, and drafted and later destroyed a revised martial law proclamation after the decree was lifted.
He was also accused of ordering the deletion of records from secure military phones, though he was cleared on some charges related to press statements and the rights of two Cabinet members.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun, during the hearing attended by Yoon and broadcast live, said the former president showed no remorse, describing the crimes as "very serious" and noting that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials acted within its authority, Yonhap News reported.
Special prosecutors had sought a 10-year sentence, citing Yoon's "grave crime" of privatising state institutions to conceal and justify his acts.
The ruling is seen as setting the stage for next month's verdict in a separate trial, where prosecutors have accused Yoon of leading an insurrection during his brief martial law attempt and demanded the death penalty, as reported by Yonhap News. The court is scheduled to deliver its verdict in that case on February 19.
According to Yonhap News, Yoon is facing a total of eight trials, including cases related to his wife's alleged corruption and the 2023 death of a Marine.
This marks the third time a former president's trial has been broadcast live in South Korea, following the televised hearings of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak in 2018.