Appeals court sentences Yoon to seven years

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to seven years in prison by an appeals court after being convicted on charges including obstructing his arrest by mobilizing the Presidential Security Service. The sentence is two years longer than the lower court’s ruling, after the appeals court reversed some earlier acquittals. The case marks the first decision by a special Seoul High Court panel dedicated to insurrection-related cases.

Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1, presided over by Judge Yoon Sung-sik, delivered the ruling on April 29. The court said Yoon, then serving as president, had a constitutional duty to uphold the law and protect citizens’ rights but instead fueled social unrest and failed to meet those obligations.

Special counsel Cho Eun-seok, who is leading the insurrection probe, sought a 10-year prison term in both the trial and the appeal, near the statutory maximum.

The appeals court upheld the lower court’s finding that Yoon obstructed the execution of an arrest warrant sought by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, which was investigating insurrection allegations, by deploying the Presidential Security Service. The court said he treated security personnel under his authority as if they were private forces. It added that even if there were questions about the agency’s jurisdiction, the matter should have been resolved through legal procedures, and that attempting to block it by force cannot be justified under the rule of law.

The court also overturned the lower court’s acquittal on charges of providing false information to foreign media. It found that Yoon had provided misleading information about the legality of a martial law declaration, undermining South Korea’s credibility and the public’s right to know.

Yoon’s legal team said immediately after the ruling that they would appeal to the Supreme Court.


송혜미 기자 1am@donga.com