South Korea Supreme Court to Rule on Former President Yoon Obstruction Charges While Insurrection Trial Continues

The Supreme Court of South Korea was scheduled to deliver its verdict Thursday on charges that former President Yoon Suk Yeol obstructed justice by blocking investigators from detaining him after his failed martial law bid. Yonhap reported the sentencing hearing was set for 2 p.m. and would be the Supreme Court's first ruling for Yoon.

The hearing was to be broadcast live. Yoon did not plan to appear, as the defendant's attendance is not required for a final appeal ruling. Yoon has been in custody since July 2025. He faces accusations of ordering presidential bodyguards to stop investigators from executing a warrant to detain him in January 2025.

He is also charged with violating the rights of nine Cabinet members by not calling them to an advance meeting to review his martial law plan, as well as falsifying public documents by revising the martial law proclamation after the decree was lifted to disguise its procedural flaws and later discarding the document.

An appeals court sentenced Yoon to seven years in prison in April 2026 after finding him guilty of the obstruction of justice charges. That term was an increase of two years from the lower court's ruling but less than the 10 years recommended by a special counsel team.

Yoon has been standing a total of eight trials in connection with his declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. His main trial on charges of leading an insurrection through the martial law bid is ongoing at an appellate court, where he was sentenced to life in prison in the first ruling.