Seven Trials Remain for Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Four Still Awaiting First-Instance Verdicts

[Anchor]

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to a definitive seven-year prison term for charges including obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant. Including the most critical trial regarding his charges as the ringleader of an insurrection, he still faces seven remaining legal cases.

Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong has the story.

[Reporter]

The core of the cases against former President Yoon, the charge of being the ringleader of an insurrection, is currently undergoing appellate proceedings after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial.

Trials are held every Thursday, and former President Yoon watched the live broadcast of the Supreme Court ruling on the obstruction of arrest case yesterday (July 9) from the courtroom where his insurrection trial is being held.

This was possible because the court granted a recess to allow him to watch the proceedings.

When the seven-year prison sentence was finalized, some in the gallery shed tears, but former President Yoon showed no particular reaction.

Among the seven remaining trials for former President Yoon, three are currently in the appellate stage, including the insurrection ringleader charge.

In the case where he was charged with giving false testimony in the trial of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo—claiming that a Cabinet meeting had been planned as originally scheduled—he was acquitted in the first trial.

On the other hand, in the case of general treason, where he was accused of ordering a drone operation in Pyongyang to create tensions with North Korea for the purpose of declaring martial law, former President Yoon claimed it was a forced argument by North Korea.

[Yoon Suk Yeol / Former President (November 2024, Press Conference): It is not even worth responding one by one to such absurd, victim-blaming claims.]

However, the court sentenced him to 30 years in prison, stating that he had used South Korea's military power for private purposes.

The remaining four cases have yet to receive a first-instance verdict.

These include two cases indicted by the Special Counsel for Kim Keon-hee—charges of violating the Political Funds Act for receiving public opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun for free, and charges of spreading false information regarding the shaman known as Geonjin-beopsa during his 20th presidential campaign—as well as two cases indicted by the Special Counsel for the Marine Corps Corporal case, involving allegations of external pressure on the investigation into the death of the Marine and allegations of helping former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup flee overseas.

Among these, the two cases indicted by the Special Counsel for Kim Keon-hee are scheduled to reach a verdict within this month.

(Video Editing: Won Hyeong-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.