SEOUL: South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted Saturday on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of official duties related to his controversial declaration of martial law last year. The indictment comes amid a widening investigation into an alleged insurrection.
Yoon triggered a major political crisis on December 3 when he attempted to undermine civilian authority by deploying troops to the parliament to block lawmakers from rejecting his martial law declaration. He became the first sitting South Korean president to be taken into custody after resisting arrest for weeks, even using his presidential security team to obstruct investigators.
Though released on procedural grounds in March, Yoon’s trial on insurrection charges has continued. He was detained again last week after a court issued an arrest warrant citing concerns that he might destroy evidence.
Prosecutor Park Ji-young told reporters that Yoon failed to follow legal procedures for declaring martial law, including not consulting the full cabinet. Additionally, Yoon was charged with fabricating and discarding a false document falsely claiming that the prime minister and defense minister had approved the martial law.
Yoon has refused to attend questioning since his detention but appeared in court Friday to request cancellation of his arrest warrant. The court denied the request. His legal team said Yoon spoke in his defense for over 30 minutes, mentioning limited physical mobility and other challenges.
Currently, Yoon is held in solitary confinement in a cell equipped with a fan but no air conditioning, as South Korea faces a severe heat wave.
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