Seoul: A special counsel team said Wednesday it has appealed a court’s recent life sentence for former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his insurrection conviction.
The special counsel, led by Cho Eun-suk, said the appeal was filed due to “factual errors, legal misunderstandings and inappropriate sentencing.”
Last week, a Seoul court sentenced Yoon to life in prison for leading an insurrection when he briefly imposed martial law on December 3, 2024, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The court said Yoon sought to paralyse the National Assembly by sending troops to the compound following the declaration, concluding that the act met the constitutional definition of insurrection.
However, it said Yoon decided to declare martial law on December 1, 2024, rejecting the special counsel’s claim that he had prepared the operation for more than a year.
The special counsel also appealed the same court’s rulings on other defendants who were sentenced alongside Yoon, including former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, former National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho and former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Bong-sik.
The former defence minister was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while Cho was given 12 years and the former Seoul police chief 10 years for their roles in the martial law bid.
Meanwhile, Yoon Suk Yeol’s appellate trial on obstruction of justice and other charges will begin next week, legal sources said Wednesday.
The first hearing has been scheduled for 2 pm next Wednesday at the Seoul High Court, with proceedings led by Criminal Division 1 — one of two divisions recently designated to handle cases related to charges of insurrection, treason and rebellion.
Yoon was sentenced by a lower court last month to five years in prison on charges of obstructing investigators’ attempt to detain him last year following his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.
He was also found guilty of violating the rights of Cabinet members who were not called to a meeting to review his martial law plan, and drafting and later destroying a revised proclamation after the decree was lifted.
The former president is standing a total of eight trials in connection with the martial law attempt, his wife’s alleged corruption and the 2023 death of a Marine.
In one of them, he was sentenced to life imprisonment last week for leading an insurrection through his declaration of martial law.
(IANS)
