Lead
South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol for obstructing justice by blocking investigators from detaining him in the wake of his failed martial law bid in 2024, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.
The sentence was the top court's first ruling for Yoon, who has been standing a total of eight trials in connection with his surprise declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. The main trial on charges of leading an insurrection has been ongoing at an appellate court after a lower court sentenced him to life in prison.
Coverage comparison
All three Yonhap reports on the case approached the story neutrally, focusing on the court's decision and the charges against Yoon. One report, published after the ruling, led with the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the sentence and included the presiding judge's statement that the lower court's judgment contained no errors. Two earlier reports, published ahead of the verdict, emphasized the upcoming decision and noted that Yoon did not plan to appear for the session, as a defendant's attendance is not required for a final appeal ruling. The hearing was broadcast live despite Yoon's objections, according to the post-ruling report.
Key claims
- The Supreme Court upheld a seven-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol for obstructing justice by blocking investigators from detaining him, according to Yonhap.
- Yoon was found guilty of obstructing justice in connection with the aftermath of his failed martial law bid in 2024, the report said.
- The former president faced additional charges of abuse of power, falsifying public documents, and other offenses, as detailed by Yonhap.
- Yoon was accused of having ordered presidential bodyguards to stop investigators from executing a warrant to detain him in January 2025.
- He was also charged with violating the rights of nine Cabinet members by not calling them to an advance meeting to review his martial law plan.
- Other charges included revising the martial law proclamation after the decree was lifted to disguise its procedural flaws, later discarding the document, ordering the distribution of a press statement containing falsehoods, and restricting access to a former military commander's phone call records, the report said.
- The hearing was broadcast live despite Yoon's objections and his absence, as reported by Yonhap.
- Yoon has been in custody since last July, the reports noted.
- An appeals court sentenced Yoon to seven years in prison in April, an increase of two years from a lower court's ruling but less than the 10 years recommended by a special counsel team, according to Yonhap.
- Yoon's main trial on charges of leading an insurrection through the martial law bid is ongoing at an appellate court, the reports said. In the first ruling, he was sentenced to life in prison.