South Korea: National Assembly Passes New Special Probe Bill Against Ex-President Yoon, Wife

Seoul: The South Korea’s National Assembly, led by the ruling Democratic Party (DP), passed a bill on Friday to launch a new special counsel probe into former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law imposition and its aftermath, as well as allegations surrounding his wife.

Lawmakers voted 172 for and two against, at a plenary session as the opposition’s filibuster to block the bill ended after reaching its 24-hour limit.

The bill for the second round of the comprehensive special counsel probe would reopen investigations into alleged insurrection charges related to Yoon’s failed martial law bid, along with corruption allegations tied to former first lady Kim Keon Hee and the 2023 death of a Marine, covering 17 allegations that were not fully addressed by the three previous counsels.

The move is likely to deepen bipartisan tensions ahead of the local elections in June, with the PPP denouncing the DP’s push as politically motivated and the DP calling for an end to the aftermath of Yoon’s martial law.

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok launched a hunger strike shortly after Thursday’s plenary session began, demanding the DP accept opposition-backed special probe bills on an alleged bribery scandal involving the Unification Church.

Earlier in the day, former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to five years in prison Friday on charges that included the obstruction of investigators’ attempt to detain him last year.

The Seoul Central District Court delivered the verdict in the first ruling on charges stemming from Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.

The sentence was half of what special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team had requested last month, saying the former president committed a “grave crime” by “privatising” state institutions with the aim of concealing and justifying his criminal acts, Yonhap News Agency reported.

During the hearing, which was attended by the jailed former president and televised live, Judge Baek Dae-hyun listed the charges against Yoon and the bench’s judgment on each of them.

Yoon was accused of ordering the Presidential Security Service to block investigators’ execution of a warrant to detain him in January last year, violating the rights of nine 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 martial law decree was lifted.

In addition, the former president was charged with ordering the distribution of press statements containing falsehoods about the declaration and the deletion of records from secure phones used by then military commanders.

The judge said Yoon was guilty of all charges except with regard to the rights of two of the nine Cabinet members and the order to distribute false press statements.

He said Yoon showed no remorse, though the “nature of the crimes was very bad.”

The court ruled that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials acted within the scope of its authority in investigating and executing detention warrants for the then president last year.

The ruling is expected to have implications for next month’s verdict on charges that Yoon led an insurrection through his short-lived decree.

Special prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Yoon over the insurrection charge earlier this week. The court is set to rule on the case on Feb. 19.

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.

This was the third time a former president’s trial was broadcast live.

In 2018, the sentencing hearings of former President Park Geun-hye and former President Lee Myung-bak in their respective corruption trials were televised.

(IANS)