'Five-Year Prison Term' for Yoon Suk Yeol, Insurrection Verdict to Begin in Earnest Next Month: Seven Criminal Trials Lined Up

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According to Financial News, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to five years in prison in the first trial over charges including obstruction of an arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), is now awaiting the court’s rulings in seven remaining criminal cases involving insurrection, treason, perjury and other charges. With the first-instance verdict in the case accusing him of leading an insurrection scheduled for next month following the completion of closing arguments, related courtroom battles are expected to continue throughout the first half of the year.
\r\nAccording to legal circles on the 17th, the first case among those involving the former president that is expected to receive a first-instance verdict is the one concerning charges of leading an insurrection. Criminal Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Jee Kui-yeon, has set the sentencing hearing for this case for 3 p.m. on the 19th of next month.
This ruling is expected to be the judiciary’s first full-fledged judgment on the emergency martial law situation. In this case, seven key military and police figures have also been indicted alongside Yoon, including former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, former Commander of the Defense Intelligence Command Sangwon Noh, former Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency Jo Jiho, and former Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Bong Sik Kim.
At the closing hearing held on the 13th, the Special Prosecutor's Office for Insurrection demanded the death penalty for the former president and characterized the emergency martial law as an "act of destroying the constitutional order." Yoon, for his part, argued in his final statement that the emergency martial law was intended as a "warning" and a "messaging" form of martial law.
The key issue in determining insurrection is whether a violent uprising was incited or carried out with the intent to exclude state power or disrupt the constitutional order. The court is expected to rule on whether a series of measures taken after the declaration of martial law—including the deployment of troops to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, and the blockade of the National Assembly—meet the legal elements of the offense.
The treason case, commonly referred to as the "Pyongyang drone incident," has also already gone to trial. Yoon is suspected of having sent an unmanned aerial vehicle to Pyongyang in October 2024 to heighten military tensions with North Korea and then use that situation as a pretext for declaring martial law. The case is being heard by Criminal Division 36 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Presiding Judge Lee Jung-yeop of the 36th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, with hearings scheduled twice a week in January, three times a week in February, and four times a week starting in March.
The trial on perjury charges related to the emergency martial law Cabinet meeting is also moving into full swing. Criminal Division 32 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Ryu Kyung-jin, will hold the first preparatory hearing in this case on the 21st. Yoon is accused of giving false testimony when he appeared as a witness in the trial of former Prime Minister of South Korea Han Duck-soo, who is charged with aiding and abetting the leader of an insurrection, by stating as if the Cabinet meeting had been planned even before Han’s recommendation.
Cases indicted by the special counsel investigating allegations involving First Lady Kim Keon Hee and the death of Corporal Chae are also awaiting trial. The case involving the provision of polling data by Myung Tae-kyun will see its first preparatory hearing on the 27th, and the case concerning the alleged dissemination of false information related to Jeon Seong-bae, known as Geonjin Beopsa, is likewise set to go before the court.
The case charging former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup with harboring a criminal in connection with his departure from the country, a key issue in the Corporal Chae case, has already completed its preparatory hearings, while the first preparatory hearing in the case concerning alleged improper pressure on the investigation into that matter is scheduled for the 3rd of next month.
If all of these trials proceed in parallel, there is even speculation that the former president may have to appear in court five days a week, excluding weekends.
\r\nMeanwhile, verdicts are also lined up for Cabinet members indicted over allegations related to the emergency martial law. Former Prime Minister of South Korea Han Duck-soo is set to receive a first-instance verdict on the 21st on charges of aiding and abetting the leader of an insurrection and perjury. The first-instance ruling in the case involving First Lady Kim Keon Hee and alleged stock price manipulation of Deutsch Motors Inc. is scheduled for the 28th, while former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, who is accused of participating in the insurrection by ordering power and water cuts to media outlets during the martial law period, is due to be sentenced on the 12th of next month.
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localplace@fnnews.com Kim Hyun-ji Reporter