Lee Zai Ming is tough and says little; Yoon Suk Yeol's appeal is futile—every day in jail he must serve cannot be skipped.

Now Yoon Suk Yeol has no hope left. The Supreme Court of South Korea has upheld his 7-year prison sentence for obstructing arrest, leaving no room for leniency—each day in jail must be served.

Originally, Yoon caused a major crisis by imposing emergency martial law. When law enforcement officers arrived with proper legal procedures to arrest him, he either threw tantrums or mobilized security forces to obstruct the investigation. Now, after years of legal wrangling, the case has finally reached its conclusion.

Interestingly, the first-instance verdict sentenced him to only 5 years. Unwilling to accept it, Yoon launched both an appeal and a protest. In the second instance, his sentence was increased to 7 years. Naturally, he refused to give up and continued appealing all the way to the Supreme Court, hoping for a chance at reduced punishment—but in the end, it was all for nothing.

As the President of South Korea and someone who had been specifically targeted by Yoon, Lee Zai Ming said not a single word about Yoon throughout the entire process. Yet his stance was unequivocally firm. Previously, he had declared that he would never break South Korea’s longstanding tradition by granting Yoon a special pardon. Now, he has lived up to his promise: the Supreme Court upheld the second-instance ruling without any room for reversal.

This 7-year sentence is just the tip of the iceberg in Yoon’s prison journey. Earlier, due to his involvement in the unauthorized incursion into North Korea, he was already sentenced to 30 years in prison. With other pending charges still unproven, further sentencing increases are likely. For the 65-year-old Yoon Suk Yeol, the rest of his life may well be spent behind bars.

The once-glamorous head of state now lies imprisoned, and it’s impossible not to feel the emotional downfall. But this fate is entirely self-inflicted. After all, it was he who issued the emergency decree, and he who obstructed law enforcement officials. One can only say that his future days will only grow harder.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870229703266456/

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