Name: South Korean prosecutors indict impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over martial law
Uploaded: 2025-01-28T01:59:36.000Z
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Description: South Korean prosecutors indict impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over martial law

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Associated Press

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has become the country’s first leader to be indicted, less than two weeks after he was the first to be detained.
The impeached, jailed president, who had been holed up in his presidential compound for weeks after issuing a shocking martial law decree last month, now faces rebellion charges that are punishable by the death penalty or life in prison.
It’s part of a tortuous saga that has plunged South Korea into political turmoil and further torn apart an already divided society.
And it’s not the only legal headache Yoon faces. A separate proceeding will determine whether to formally dismiss him as president or reinstate him.
As Seoul prepares for double court hearings, continuing chaotic protests and increasingly harsh rhetoric from pro-and anti-Yoon forces, here is what to expect next.


What happens now?
Yoon will stay in jail.
He will be brought from a detention facility to a Seoul court for hearings in the rebellion trial, which is expected to last about six months.
Prosecutors say that Yoon directed a rebellion when he briefly imposed martial law on December 3.
Yoon has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but not on charges of rebellion or treason.

Yoon’s defence minister, police chief and several other military commanders have already been arrested and indicted on alleged rebellion, abuse of power and other charges related to the martial law decree.
Meanwhile, rival protests look likely to continue in downtown Seoul.
After a local court on January 19 approved a formal arrest warrant to extend Yoon’s detention, dozens of his supporters stormed the court building, destroying windows, doors and other property. They also attacked police officers with bricks, steel pipes and other objects. The violence left 17 police officers injured, and police detained 46 protesters.

What about his other court case?
Yoon also has to worry about the Constitutional Court, which has until June to determine whether to formally dismiss or reinstate him as president.
Observers expect a ruling to come sooner than the deadline.
In the cases of two past impeached presidents, Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye in 2016, the court spent 63 days and 91 days respectively before determining to reinstate Roh and dismiss Park.
If the Constitutional Court removes Yoon from office, an election to choose his successor must be held within two months.
Recent public surveys show that governing and opposition party candidates are running neck-and-neck in a possible presidential by-election race.

What’s the reaction on the ground?
Both pro- and anti-Yoon camps are promising that this is just the beginning.
Shin Dong-wook, of the governing conservative People Power Party, is warning that prosecutors will face unspecified legal and political consequences for their “wrong indictment” of Yoon.
Yoon’s defence team says the prosecutors who indicted the president are trying to curry favour with political forces who want Yoon gone. They called the indictment “a shame in the history of South Korean prosecutors”.
The main opposition liberal Democratic Party, which led Yoon’s December 14 impeachment, called his indictment and arrest “the beginning of the punishment of the ringleader of a rebellion”.

Party spokesman Han Min-soo warned Yoon to stop what he called his attempt to incite far-right supporters based on “groundless delusion”.
Yoon has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and says his declaration of martial law was a legitimate act of governance meant to raise public awareness of the danger of the liberal-controlled National Assembly, which obstructed his agenda.
After declaring martial law on December 3, Yoon sent troops and police officers to the assembly, but enough lawmakers still managed to enter an assembly chamber to unanimously vote down Yoon’s decree, forcing his cabinet to lift it.
The martial law imposition, the first of its kind in South Korea in more than four decades, lasted only six hours. But it evoked painful memories of the military-backed rulers who used martial law and emergency decrees to suppress opponents in the 1960-80s.


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South Korean prosecutors indict impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over martial law

South Korea

Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s impeached president, arrives at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on January 23. Photo: AFP

A vehicle carrying Yoon leaves the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in Gwacheon on January 15. Photo: AFP

Smashed glass is seen on the ground as a policeman stands guard outside the Seoul Western District Court on January 19. Photo: AFP

Yoon supporters gather outside the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang last week to protest against his detention. Photo: AFP

People gather outside the National Assembly in Seoul on December 14 to celebrate after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach Yoon. Photo: AP 

Martial law, memes and mayhem: the rise and fall of South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol

A placard of impeached South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol with horns is seen on an installation during a rally against Yoon near his residence in Seoul on January 5. Photo: AFP

A screenshot captured from a video released on Wednesday shows South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol delivering a speech. Photo: Xinhua

Yoon Suk-yeol (second from left) and his wife Kim Keon-hee (second from right) during a ceremony marking the 104th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement Day against Japanese colonial rule, in Seoul on March 1, 2023. Photo: AFP

People attend a rally supporting the arrest of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

South Korea’s Yoon accused of using China as a ‘scapegoat’ in martial law defence

People watching a televised address by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on December 12.  During the speech, Yoon accused North Korea of hacking the NEC and cast doubt on his party’s defeat in the 2024 National Assembly elections. Photo: Xinhua

Supporters of detained and impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at a rally at the entrance of the Seoul Detention Center in Seoul on January 16. Photo: AFP

South Korea’s Yoon in spotlight again over soldiers praising him at birthday event

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol attends his impeachment trial for the first time in Seoul on Tuesday. Photo: Kyodo

Ex-South Korean defence minister Kim Yong-hyun is set to face the court on Thursday over impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed martial law bid. Photo: Reuters

Yoon supporters break into South Korean court after it extends impeached president’s detention

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol walk past a broken signboard at the Seoul Western District Court on Sunday. Photo: Yonhap via AFP

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol walk past a destroyed wall at the Seoul Western District Court on Sunday. Photo: AFP

A motorcade believed to be carrying South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol arrives at the Seoul Detention Centre on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Pro-Yoon supporters gather outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday. Photo: AFP

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Amid the court hearings, continuing chaotic protests and increasingly harsh rhetoric, here’s what to expect


Amid the court hearings, continuing chaotic protests and increasingly harsh rhetoric, here’s what to expect.


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Explainer | What happens now South Korea’s president has been charged with rebellion?

Amid the court hearings, continuing chaotic protests and increasingly harsh rhetoric, here’s what to expect

What happens now?