▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol gives his final statement during his trial on insurrection charges stemming from his short-lived imposition of martial law, at the Seoul Central District Court in the capital on Jan. 13, 2026, in this photo provided by the court. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ A police bus is parked outside the Seoul Central District Court in the capital on Jan. 15, 2026, a day before the court rules on former President Yoon Suk Yeol's obstruction of justice and other charges stemming from his 2024 declaration of martial law. (Yonhap)

ex-president-trial

Ex-President Yoon set to receive 1st verdict on charges stemming from martial law attempt

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- Former President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to receive a court ruling Friday on charges he obstructed investigators' attempt to detain him last year, the first verdict on cases stemming from his 2024 declaration of martial law.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team sought a 10-year prison term for Yoon last month on obstruction of justice and other charges, saying the former president committed a "grave crime" by "privatizing" state institutions with the aim of concealing and justifying his criminal acts.

A verdict is set to be delivered at the Seoul Central District Court at 2 p.m. The session will be televised live after the court accepted broadcasters' request.

Yoon is accused of ordering the Presidential Security Service to block investigators' execution of a warrant to detain him in January last year, violating the rights of nine Cabinet members who were not called to a meeting to review his martial law plan, and drafting and later destroying a revised proclamation after the martial law decree was lifted.

In addition, the former president has been charged with ordering the distribution of press statements containing falsehoods about the declaration, and the deletion of records from secure phones used by then military commanders.

By charge, the special counsel team demanded five years in prison for obstructing his detention, three years for violating Cabinet members' rights, distributing falsehoods to the foreign press and destroying phone records, and two years for falsifying an official document.

The court's judgment on the alleged obstruction of investigators and the procedural legitimacy of the martial law declaration is expected to have implications for next month's verdict on charges Yoon led an insurrection through his short-lived decree.

Special prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Yoon over the insurrection charge earlier this week. The court is set to rule on the case on Feb. 19.

The former president is standing a total of eight trials in connection with the martial law attempt, his wife's alleged corruption and the 2023 death of a Marine.

This will be the third time a former president's trial is broadcast live.

In 2018, the sentencing hearings of former President Park Geun-hye and former President Lee Myung-bak in their respective corruption trials were televised.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]