SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea’s prosecutors on Sunday charged impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for insurrection over his imposition of martial law on December 3, his lawyers said.
Yoon’s lawyers have termed the indictment as the “worst choice” by the prosecution service, while the main opposition party of the country hailed the decision.
The charges against Yoon are unprecedented for a South Korean president, and if convicted, he could face years in prison for his controversial martial law decree, which aimed to ban political and parliamentary activities and impose media control.
His actions triggered significant political turmoil in Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally. The crisis led to the impeachment and suspension of the prime minister, along with the indictment of several top military officials for their alleged involvement in the insurrection.
“(The) President’s declaration of emergency martial law was a desperate plea to the public over a national crisis caused by the opposition getting out of control,” Yoon’s lawyers said in a statement.
Anti-corruption investigators last week proposed charging Yoon, who was impeached by parliament on December 14 and suspended from his duties on the same day.
Yoon, a former top prosecutor, has been held in solitary confinement since January 15, when he became the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested. His arrest followed days of a defiant, armed standoff between his security detail and the officials attempting to detain him.
South Korean president does not have immunity on charges of insurrection. The offence is punishable by life imprisonment or death, although South Korea has not executed anyone in decades.
“The prosecution has decided to indict Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing charges of being a ringleader of insurrection,” Democratic Party spokesman Han Min-soo told a press conference. “The punishment of the ringleader of insurrection now begins finally.”
At a Constitutional Court hearing last week during his impeachment trial, Yoon and his lawyers argued that he never intended to fully implement martial law. Instead, they claimed the measures were meant solely as a warning to resolve a political deadlock.
South Korea’s opposition-led parliament on December 14 impeached Yoon, making him the second president to be impeached in the country.
