SKorea ex-president Yoon due in court over martial law

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will face his first court decision stemming from criminal charges over his failed attempt at martial law; This is a case that could result in a long prison sentence if convicted.

Yoon faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted Friday on charges that include obstructing authorities from executing an arrest warrant against him when he barricaded himself inside his compound in January and ordered the security service to block investigators.

He was eventually arrested in a second attempt involving more than 3,000 police officers. His arrest was the first for a sitting president in South Korea.

Yoon, who is being held in the Seoul Detention Centre, also faces allegations that he falsified official documents, claiming that he planned to restore democratic order in the country, which was under siege by the majority opposition and “anti-state” forces, when it declared martial law in December 2024.

He separately faces a number of other cases, including charges of plotting the riot. Prosecutors have asked the court to impose the death penalty on him for this charge, and the verdict is scheduled for February.

The parliament, joined by some members of Yoon’s conservative party, voted within hours to overturn the surprise martial law decree and later impeached him, suspending his powers.

He was dismissed in April 2025 after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated his duties of office.

Although the bid to impose martial law lasted only six hours, it sent shockwaves through South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a key security ally of the United States and long considered one of the world’s most resilient democracies.