SEOUL DETENTION CENTRE
The ousted former leader, who has been detained at the Seoul Detention Centre, is likely to remain there regardless of the ruling. If found guilty, he is expected to appeal the ruling and can again challenge any appellate court decision at the Supreme Court.
Judicial guidelines say the first trial should conclude within six months and the entire process, including appeals, in two years, but trials often stretch beyond that. If the Seoul district court clears him on Thursday, his legal woes are far from over.
Yoon, who faces eight trial proceedings, was given a five-year jail sentence in January in a separate trial on charges including obstructing attempts by authorities to arrest him following his martial law declaration. He has appealed that ruling.
While Yoon’s bid to impose martial law lasted only about six hours before it was met by large street protests and voted down by parliament, it sent shockwaves through South Korea, which is Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a key US security ally, and long considered one of the world’s most resilient democracies.
In a post on X, President Lee Jae Myung, a liberal who won the presidency in a snap election in June after Yoon’s removal, commended the actions of the Korean people to thwart the attempt to bring in martial law.
“It was possible because it was the Republic of Korea”, Lee said, using South Korea’s official name, adding the Korean people would serve as an example for human history.
His post was attached to a newspaper story about how some academics had recommended that the Korean public be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for facing off against troops and police to oppose martial law without violence.