Yoon indicted on additional charges over martial law
Yoon's additional indictments mean he will remain in jail for up to six months as he faces a trial at the Seoul Central District Court on his Dec 3 martial law declaration that plunged South Korea into huge political turmoil.
Yoon was sent back to prison last week after the Seoul court approved his arrest warrant requested by a team of investigators headed by independent counsel Cho Eun-suk.
Cho's team indicted Yoon on abuse of power that obstructed the rights of some of his Cabinet members. The charge was imposed because Yoon summoned only select Cabinet members to approve his emergency martial law when South Korean law requires approval of all Cabinet members for such a measure, Park Ji-young, a senior investigator at Cho's team, said.
Park said Yoon was also charged with fabricating an official document in an attempt to satisfy a formal requirement for a martial law declaration before he eventually destroyed it.
After declaring martial law, Yoon sent troops and police officers to the opposition-controlled National Assembly, but enough lawmakers managed to enter an assembly chamber and voted down his decree, forcing his Cabinet to lift it. Yoon was later impeached by the assembly, with some of his ruling party lawmakers voting to suspend his presidential powers.
Yoon has argued his decree was a desperate attempt to draw public support of his fight against the 'wickedness' of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which had obstructed his agenda, impeached top officials and slashed the government's budget Bill.
In January, state prosecutors arrested and indicted him on rebellion, a grave charge that would incur the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.
In March, however, Yoon was released from prison after a judge at the Seoul district court cancelled his arrest to allow him to stand trial without being held in custody.
In April, the Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon as president, prompting a snap election to choose his successor.
After winning that election, new President Lee Jae-myung approved legislation to launch independent investigations to uncover fuller details of Yoon's martial law stunt and delve into other criminal allegations involving his wife and administration.
In May, state prosecutors indicted Yoon on charges of abusing power and forcing soldiers and police officers to try to seal the assembly and election offices, acts that are not part of their duties. — AP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 minutes ago
- The Star
Kim Jong-un's sister says 'no reason' for talks with South
SEOUL: North Korea has no interest in pursuing dialogue with the South, leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister said Monday (July 28), dismissing a new president in Seoul who has vowed to mend ties. Since his election in June, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has broken with his predecessor's hawkish tone on the North and halted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border -- begun in response to a barrage of trash-filled North Korean balloons. North Korea has ended its own propaganda broadcasts, which had boomed strange and eerie noises into the South. But such gestures do not mean Seoul should expect a thawing of icy ties, Kim Yo-jong (pic) said in an English dispatch carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Monday. "If the ROK... expected that it could reverse all the results it had made with a few sentimental words, nothing is more serious miscalculation than it," she said, referring to South Korea by its official name. "We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither the reason to meet nor the issue to be discussed with the ROK," she added. "The DPRK-ROK relations have irreversibly gone beyond the time zone of the concept of homogeneous," she said, using the North's official acronym. Seoul said Kim's statement -- Pyongyang's first reaction to Lee's overture -- "reaffirms the high level of mistrust between the two due to years of hostile policies". "We take this as a sign that the North is closely monitoring the Lee administration's North Korea policy," Unification Ministry Spokesman Koo Byung-sam said at a press briefing. Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP that Kim's statement underscored Pyongyang's entrenched anti-South stance. "It declares that its hostile perception towards the South has become irreversible," he said. The two countries technically remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The United States, a key security ally of South Korea, keeps around 28,000 troops in the South to help it defend attacks from the nuclear-armed North. The South's Lee has said he would seek talks with the North without preconditions, following a deep freeze under his predecessor when relations plummeted to their worst level in years. - AFP
Sinar Daily
32 minutes ago
- Sinar Daily
Ex-South Korean lawmaker found dead in Yoon ties probe
Choi Ho was found dead on a hill in Pyeongtaek, 75 kilometres south of Seoul, at around 3am, about an hour after his family reported him missing. 28 Jul 2025 02:38pm Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold placards during a rally on a street in Seoul on April 2, 2025. - (Photo by PEDRO PARDO / AFP) PYEONGTAEK - A former member of the Gyeonggi provincial assembly was found dead on Monday amid an investigation into his alleged ties to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, police said. According to Yonhap News Agency, Choi Ho was found dead on a hill in Pyeongtaek, 75 kilometres south of Seoul, at around 3am, about an hour after his family reported him missing. Police said they believe he left his home around 5pm on Sunday and took his own life. No suicide note was found. Choi won the nomination of the then ruling People Power Party to run for mayor of Pyeongtaek in the June 2022 local elections. Prosecutors have been investigating suspicions then President Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, pushed for his nomination. - BERNAMA
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
North Korea rejects South's peace moves as ‘great miscalculation'
SEOUL: North Korea has dismissed South Korea's recent peace overtures as a 'great miscalculation,' with Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, stating Pyongyang has no interest in dialogue. The remarks mark the first official response to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's attempts to ease tensions. Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party, criticized Lee's commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance, saying it proves he is no different from his predecessor. 'If South Korea expects to reverse all the consequences of its actions with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation than that,' she said in a statement carried by state media. Lee, who took office in June, has sought to improve strained ties by halting anti-North propaganda broadcasts and banning activist leaflets. However, Kim dismissed these gestures as mere reversals of hostile actions that should never have occurred. 'We again make clear the official position that whatever policy is established in Seoul or proposal is made, we are not interested,' she said. South Korea's Unification Ministry acknowledged the deep distrust between the two sides but pledged to continue efforts for reconciliation. 'The wall of distrust between the South and the North is very high as a result of hostile and confrontational policy over the past few years,' a ministry spokesperson said. Despite the North's rejection, Seoul remains cautiously optimistic, noting Pyongyang's earlier decision to silence its own propaganda loudspeakers. Meanwhile, North Korea marked the Korean War armistice anniversary with a military parade in Pyongyang, though state media did not report leader Kim Jong Un's attendance. The two Koreas technically remain at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. - Reuters
