Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to five years in the first trial, with seven other cases pending, supporters chanted "Yoon Again"!

A court in South Korea on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol to five years in prison for obstructing justice and abuse of power, marking the first case among eight that he has been involved in following his failed attempt to impose a state of emergency at the end of 2024. Seven other cases are still pending, with one case requesting the death penalty.

After launching a strong intervention against the legislature, which triggered a serious political crisis and ultimately led to his removal more than a year ago, the 65-year-old conservative former leader received a sentence lower than the ten years requested by the prosecution.

According to a report from AFP in Seoul: After the verdict was announced on Friday, supporters gathered outside the court fell silent for a few minutes before beginning to chant: "Yoon Suk-yeol, again!"

Mr. Yoon himself was once a star prosecutor and is currently facing other seven charges, with the most serious charge of rebellion potentially carrying the death penalty.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court made a ruling on a minor branch of Mr. Yoon's case, which had plunged South Korea into months of protests and political turmoil.

Mr. Yoon was accused of excluding certain government officials from meetings regarding the preparation of the emergency declaration and preventing investigators from arresting him.

According to Judge Baek Dae-hyun, Mr. Yoon abused his authority, incited presidential security officers to resist the country, and used them as "private bodyguards" to protect "his own safety and private interests."

Mr. Yoon hid in his residence in Seoul under the protection of his bodyguards for weeks, even thwarting the first raid.

Last January, he was finally arrested during a prolonged raid lasting several hours. He thus became the first president in South Korea's history to be arrested while in office.

Blocking the Legislature

The crisis began on the night of December 3, 2024, when Mr. Yoon announced the imposition of a state of emergency on television, sending troops to block the legislature, shocking the entire nation.

Hours later, he withdrew the decision because enough legislators managed to sneak into the parliament hall surrounded by soldiers and voted to suspend his emergency decree.

Mr. Yoon attributed the implementation of the emergency decree to the opposition-controlled legislature blocking the passage of the budget. The emergency decree was unprecedented in South Korea since the military dictatorship of the 1980s.

In his televised address, he claimed that this move was to protect the country from the "North Korean GC forces" and "eliminate forces hostile to the country."

He was eventually removed by the Constitutional Court last April, triggering early presidential elections, which were ultimately won by the left-wing opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung.

Mr. Yoon has seven days to appeal the decision.

The legal troubles of this former South Korean president and his close allies are far from over.

In another trial targeting the charge of rebellion, the prosecution requested the death penalty this Tuesday. Although South Korea has not carried out any executions since 1997, the country still retains the death penalty system.

The verdict will be announced on February 19.

At the final statement before the recess, former President Yoon insisted that he was merely exercising his statutory privileges as head of state.

According to Yonhap News Agency, he said, "This was not a military dictatorship suppressing citizens, but rather to safeguard freedom and sovereignty, and strengthen the constitutional order."

In another lawsuit, the prosecution accused the former president of ordering the deployment of drones to Pyongyang to provoke North Korea, aiming to elicit a reaction from the neighboring country and provide an excuse for implementing the emergency law.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original: toutiao.com/article/1854488197758984/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.