President Yoon, Indicted and Detained Last Month,
First Trial Scheduled for the 20th
The criminal trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was arrested and indicted on charges of being the ringleader of a rebellion, will begin on the 20th. The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25 (Chief Judge Ji Gui-yeon), which is handling President Yoon's case, has scheduled the first pretrial conference for the 20th. The pretrial conference is a procedure to organize the issues and evidence of the trial before the formal hearing, and the defendant is not obligated to attend.
The Special Investigation Headquarters for Emergency Martial Law (Headed by Park Se-hyun, Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Chief Prosecutor) received the case from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials along with a prosecution request. After the court denied an extension of the detention period, they indicted President Yoon on the 26th of last month on charges of being the ringleader of a rebellion without conducting a face-to-face investigation.
President Yoon is accused of conspiring with former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun and others to incite a riot with the purpose of disturbing the national order by unlawfully and unconstitutionally declaring emergency martial law, despite the absence of signs of war, armed conflict, or a comparable national emergency. He is also charged with mobilizing the military and police to block the National Assembly, obstructing the resolution to lift the emergency martial law, and attempting to arrest and detain key figures such as National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, and staff members of the National Election Commission.
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