On the 16th, citizens watched the live broadcast of the trial in the Seoul Station waiting room, where the court sentenced former President Yoon Seok-yeol to five years in prison in the first trial for charges including obstruction of arrest and infringement of the Cabinet members' deliberation rights.
Former President Yoon Seok-yeol was sentenced to five years in prison in the first trial on charges including obstructing the arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).
On January 16, the 35th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Baek Daehyun) sentenced former President Yoon, who was indicted and detained on charges including obstruction of special official duties and abuse of authority, to five years in prison.
Former President Yoon was additionally indicted by the special prosecutor team for insurrection led by Cho Eunseok in July last year for obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant by the CIO in connection with the 12·3 Martial Law. He also faces charges of drafting a post-martial law proclamation and infringing on the martial law deliberation and decision rights of nine Cabinet members. Additional charges include disseminating false information to foreign media and destroying evidence related to secure phones.
The court found Yoon guilty of mobilizing Presidential Security Service staff on January 3 last year to obstruct the CIO's arrest, and of infringing on the deliberation rights of Cabinet members who could not attend the meeting by only convening select ministers to maintain the appearance of a Cabinet meeting at the time of the 12·3 Martial Law declaration.
The court also found him guilty of fabricating and discarding a false proclamation to make it appear as though martial law had been enacted based on a document signed by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Defense Minister Kim Yonghyun after the martial law was lifted.
However, the court found him not guilty of instructing the dissemination of a press guidance (PG) containing the false claim that "there was absolutely no intent to undermine the constitutional order" to foreign media.
The court stated, "During the investigation, the defendant used Presidential Security Service officials to obstruct the lawful execution of warrants against himself or to attempt to destroy evidence," adding, "He effectively privatized public officials loyal to the Republic of Korea for his own safety and personal interests."
However, the court also explained, "In the case of fabricating official documents and similar offenses, it is difficult to conclude that he actively led the crimes, and the fact that this is his first offense with no prior criminal record was taken into consideration as a favorable factor."
The sentencing was broadcast live on TV and other media. This is the third time a former president's trial has been broadcast live, following the cases of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak.
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