By Our Reporter
Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s former President,
has been sentenced to five years in prison after a court found him guilty of obstruction of justice.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Friday that the 65-year-old conservative leader, with the backing of the presidential security service, attempted to block his arrest and ordered the deletion of several documents linked to the investigation against him.
Yoon had plunged the country into political turmoil on December 3, 2024, when he declared martial law amid a heated budget dispute with the opposition. The move shocked the nation and triggered a major political crisis.
He defended the decision as a necessary step to safeguard South Korea’s democratic order, accusing the left-leaning opposition of being infiltrated by communists with alleged ties to China and North Korea, claims for which he presented no evidence.
In a separate case, prosecutors are seeking the d+ath penalty for Yoon over charges of incitement, with a verdict expected on February 19. Although capital punishment remains legal in South Korea, it has not been carried out for almost three decades.
Yoon’s actions had earlier unsettled international investors, leading to withheld investments and damaging South Korea’s image as a stable political and economic model in the region.
Since last summer, the country has been governed by President Lee Jae Myung, a left-leaning centrist and long-time political rival of Yoon.
