4 PPP lawmakers indicted for blocking investigators from detaining ex-President Yoon in 2025

From left, Representatives Kim Gi-hyeon, Yoon Sang-hyun, Na Kyung-won and Kwon Young-jin of People Power Party attend a press briefing at the National Assembly, Seoul, July 1. Yonhap

A special counsel team said Friday it has indicted four lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) for allegedly obstructing investigators from detaining former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the wake of his failed 2024 martial law bid.

Reps. Na Kyung-won, Kim Gi-hyeon, Kwon Young-jin and Yoon Sang-hyun face charges of special obstruction of official duties for allegedly forming a human wall with Yoon's supporters outside the presidential residence on Jan. 15, 2025, when investigators made their second attempt to detain Yoon over his martial law bid

"The defendants did not merely express opposition to the detention, but formed a human wall with other people at the site to block entry into the residence," special counsel Kwon Chang-young's team said.

Kwon's team said it confirmed the allegations after reviewing footage of the detention attempt and testimonies from multiple officials who were involved in the operation.

Investigators ultimately detained Yoon that day after failing to take him into custody earlier the same month as the Presidential Security Service refused to cooperate.

The indictments come after the Supreme Court last month confirmed a seven-year prison sentence for Yoon for blocking investigators from detaining him.

It marked the first finalized conviction for the jailed former president, who has been standing multiple trials following his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.

A district court sentenced him to life in prison in February for leading an insurrection through his martial law bid. He has appealed the ruling.