Supreme Court upholds 7-year prison term for ex-President Yoon for obstruction of justice
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial on obstruction of justice charges is broadcast live on a television screen at Seoul Station, Thursday. Yonhap
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol for obstructing justice by blocking investigators from detaining him in the wake of his failed martial law bid in 2024.
The sentence was the top court's first ruling for Yoon, who has been standing a total of eight trials in connection with his surprise declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, his wife's alleged corruption and the alleged cover-up of a Marine's death.
The main trial on charges of leading an insurrection through the martial law bid has been ongoing at an appellate court after a lower court sentenced him to life in prison.
In addition to obstruction of justice, the former president faced charges of abuse of power, falsifying public documents and other offenses in Thursday's trial.
"The lower court's judgment contained no errors, such as exceeding the bounds of the principle of free evaluation of evidence in violation of logic or the rules of experience, or misapplying the relevant legal principles," the presiding judge said.
The hearing was broadcast live despite Yoon's objections and his absence, as a final appeal ruling does not require the defendant to be present.
The former president still watched the broadcast on a cellphone while attending his insurrection appellate trial at the nearby Seoul High Court.
The judges had briefly adjourned the session to allow him to hear the verdict. Yoon gave a wry smile when it was read.
Yoon has been in custody since last July and was accused of having ordered presidential bodyguards to stop investigators from executing a warrant to detain him in January 2025.
He was also charged with violating the rights of nine Cabinet members by not calling them to an advance meeting to review his martial law plan.
Other charges included revising the martial law proclamation after the decree was lifted in order to disguise its procedural flaws, later discarding the document, ordering the distribution of a press statement containing falsehoods and restricting access to a former military commander's phone call records.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that convicted Yoon of all the charges but one related to the false proclamation.
An appeals court had sentenced Yoon to seven years in prison in April, an increase of two years from a district court's ruling but less than the 10 years recommended by a special counsel team.
Immediately after the Supreme Court delivered its ruling, Yoon's lawyers vowed to challenge its constitutionality.