Supreme Court to Rule on Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's 'Obstruction of Arrest' Case on July 9

The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict on July 9 regarding former President Yoon Suk Yeol's charges, including the obstruction of an arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

This will be the first Supreme Court ruling on the former president since the December 3 emergency martial law declaration, marking 583 days since the incident.

According to legal circles on Thursday, July 2, the Supreme Court's Third Division will hold the sentencing hearing for the final appeal of the case, which involves charges of obstruction of special public duty and abuse of power, at 2:00 PM on July 9.

In July of last year, the special prosecutor team led by Cho Eun-seok indicted Yoon while he was in custody for allegedly mobilizing Presidential Security Service staff to block the execution of a CIO arrest warrant in January of last year.

He is also accused of infringing upon the martial law deliberation rights of nine cabinet members who were unable to attend the meeting, after he convened only a select group of ministers to create the appearance of a formal cabinet meeting during the martial law declaration.

Furthermore, charges were applied for allegedly creating and destroying a false declaration document, which made it appear as though the martial law was implemented based on documents signed by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun after the martial law was lifted.

Previously, in April, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 sentenced the former president to seven years in prison during the second trial.

This sentence was increased from the five-year prison term handed down in the first trial.

The appellate court upheld guilty verdicts for both the obstruction of the CIO arrest warrant execution and the infringement of cabinet members' deliberation rights.

Additionally, the court found him guilty of ordering the dissemination of false information to foreign media—specifically the claim that there was "no intention to destroy the constitutional order"—a charge for which he was acquitted in the first trial.

While charges of drafting false official documents, violating the Presidential Records Management Act, and damaging public documents were also upheld, the charge of uttering those false documents remained acquitted, consistent with the first trial.

Both the former president's legal team and the special prosecutor's office filed appeals the day after the second trial's sentencing.

This Supreme Court ruling will take place approximately 20 days earlier than the deadline stipulated by the Special Prosecutor Act, which is the 29th of this month.

Meanwhile, the main case related to the emergency martial law—the charge of leading an insurrection against the former president—is currently undergoing its second trial at the Seoul High Court.

The first trial court previously sentenced him to life imprisonment for that charge.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.