South Korea’s highest court on Thursday upheld ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol’s seven year prison sentence over crimes tied to his botched 2024 martial law declaration and its chaotic aftermath.
The case covered accusations that Yoon had obstructed cabinet deliberations and used forged signatures of the prime minister in the lead-up to the 2024 declaration, as well as using presidential security agents to block his own arrest after lawmakers had nullified it.
The disgraced former president is already in detention while he appeals a separate life sentence for leading an insurrection with his martial law declaration, which he insists was motivated by the public interest.
In the case brought before the Supreme Court, Yoon was accused of obstructing deliberations by convening only a select group of ministers for a meeting shortly before he declared martial law.
Other charges included allegedly creating and destroying a false martial law decree bearing forged signatures from the prime minister, ordering officials to distribute a misleading press release to foreign media, and directing an army commander to delete records from secure military phones.
