Seoul: A special counsel team on Friday sought a 10-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol over obstruction of justice and other charges related to his failed attempt at martial law last year, with the first verdict against him set for next month.
According to Yonhap News Agency, special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team requested the sentence during the final hearing of Yoon's related trial at the Seoul Central District Court. The team argued that the former president committed a serious crime by privatizing state institutions to conceal and justify his actions.
This request marks the first sentencing recommendation from his four trials on charges related to martial law. The special counsel emphasized the significant damage Yoon's actions inflicted on law and order in the Republic of Korea and the betrayal felt by the citizens who had trusted him as their president. Despite the gravity of the charges, Yoon consistently defended the legitimacy of his martial law declaration during the trial proceedings.
The trial focuses on several charges against Yoon, including obstructing justice by preventing investigators from detaining him in January, infringing on the rights of nine Cabinet members by excluding them from a meeting to review his martial law plan, and drafting and destroying a revised proclamation after the decree was withdrawn. Additionally, Yoon faced charges for ordering the release of false press statements and deleting records from secure phones used by military commanders at the time.
The special counsel team proposed various prison terms for the charges, including five years for obstructing his detention, three years for violating Cabinet members' rights, distributing falsehoods, and destroying phone records, and two years for drafting the revised proclamation.
The team emphasized the need for strict accountability to mend the Constitution and legal principles damaged by Yoon's actions and to prevent future power abuse by high-ranking officials in the Republic of Korea.
Yoon is also undergoing three other trials related to his failed martial law bid, including charges of leading an insurrection. The obstruction of justice trial will be the first to conclude, with the court set to deliver its verdict on January 16, just two days before Yoon's current arrest period is due to expire. Despite his lawyers' request to delay the verdict until after the insurrection trial, the judge rejected this argument. The insurrection trial is expected to conclude by early January, with a possible verdict in February.