Former President Yoon Suk Yeol appears for his trial on obstruction of justice and other charges at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Sept. 26. Joint Press Corps
An appeals court was set to rule Wednesday on former President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial on obstruction of justice and other charges stemming from his failed martial law bid, after a lower court sentenced him to five years in prison.
The Seoul High Court was scheduled to hand down its verdict in a live-televised hearing at 3 p.m., following the ousted former president's January conviction for obstructing investigators from detaining him last year over his martial law declaration in late 2024.
The lower court also found him guilty of violating the rights of his Cabinet members by calling only select members to a meeting to review his martial law plan, and creating and then discarding a false proclamation after the decree was lifted.
The lower court had acquitted him of abuse of power charges for ordering the distribution of false press statements defending his declaration.
Both Yoon and special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team appealed the ruling, with the special prosecutor demanding a 10-year sentence as they did at the lower court.
The jailed former president has been standing a total of eight trials in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024, as well as corruption allegations involving his wife and the 2023 death of a Marine.
In February, a district court sentenced him to life imprisonment on charges of leading an insurrection through his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
Source: Korea Times News
