Yoon Seokyeol Appears in Court After 85 Days... Will "Conditional Release" Be Granted?

First Court Appearance 85 Days After July Re-Arrest
Attends First Trial for Obstruction of Arrest
Appears Without a Tie, Wearing Inmate Number Badge
Decision on Conditional Release Expected as Early as This Week

Former President Yoon Seokyeol appeared in court for the first time in 85 days since being rearrested in July. On September 26, both the first trial for additional charges filed by Special Prosecutor Cho Eunseok’s team regarding insurrection and a bail hearing were held, raising the possibility that a decision on Yoon’s “conditional release” could be made as early as this week.

Yonhap News Agency

The 35th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Baek Daehyun, began the first trial for Yoon Seokyeol at 10:15 a.m. on charges including obstruction of official duties. After the trial concluded, a bail hearing was held at Yoon’s request, citing the need to guarantee his right to a substantive defense and health concerns.

Leaving Seoul Detention Center for the first time in over two months, Yoon entered the courtroom wearing a navy suit without a tie, his short white hair visible, and sat in the defendant’s seat. A badge with his inmate number, 3617, was pinned to the left side of his chest.

With the court’s approval, the entire trial process was broadcast live from start to finish. The court will release the footage online after anonymizing personal information. However, the bail hearing was not permitted to be broadcast.

Former President Yoon Seokyeol is attending the trial for obstruction of official duties held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul on the 26th.

Since his rearrest by the special prosecutor’s team, Yoon Seokyeol had refused to attend both the trial for charges as the ringleader of insurrection and the special prosecutor’s summons, maintaining a strategy of resistance. However, as the bail hearing directly concerns his custody status, he chose to appear in person on this occasion.

Yoon Seokyeol faces charges including infringing on cabinet members’ rights to deliberate and vote on martial law, drafting and discarding the martial law proclamation after the fact, issuing false press releases following the declaration of emergency martial law, ordering the deletion of classified phone records, and obstructing the execution of arrest warrants.

Meanwhile, the 27th Criminal Division of the same court, presided over by Judge Woo Inseong, will hold a preliminary hearing at 3 p.m. for Kim Keonhee, who faces charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act. Kim Keonhee appeared in person at the first trial on September 24, but as she is not required to attend the hearing on September 26, she will not be present in court.