ROK Supreme Court upholds Yoon's 7-year jail sentence

The Republic of Korea's top court upheld on Thursday former president Yoon Suk-yeol's seven-year prison sentence for obstructing justice and abuse of power in a case related to his 2024 martial law declaration.

"All appeals are dismissed," the Supreme Court said while delivering the ruling in a live broadcast.

No legal errors were found in the lower court's judgment regarding charges of infringing upon Cabinet members' deliberation rights, falsifying and destroying martial law documents, disseminating false information to foreign media, and ordering the deletion of encrypted phone records, the top court said.

It marked the first ruling for Yoon by the Supreme Court after his brief declaration of martial law in December 2024.

Yoon was first sentenced to five years in prison by the Seoul Central District Court in January for abusing the presidential security service to hinder the anti-corruption agency from executing an arrest warrant.

In April, the Seoul High Court, in an appellate ruling, increased the jail term to seven years after finding Yoon guilty of additional charges.

Yoon declared a surprising martial law decree on the night of Dec 3, 2024, which was revoked hours later by the National Assembly. He is facing eight trials related to the martial law declaration. In February, he was sentenced to life in prison on charges of leading an insurrection.

Yoon did not attend Thursday's hearing as he was at another one, and his legal team requested a recess to watch the live broadcast, according to Yonhap News Agency. He was seen nodding with a wry smile when hearing the final ruling.

Attorney Yang Ji-min told YTN news network that the Supreme Court dismissing all appeals means "the arguments raised by both sides — claims of legal misinterpretation, errors in legal principles or procedural defects — were all rejected".

The court confirmed the investigative powers of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and found no procedural flaws, she said.

This effectively ends all future disputes over the CIO's authority in related trials involving presidential security service personnel and cabinet members, she added.

After the top court's ruling, Yoo Jung-hwa, one of Yoon's lawyers, said there were many issues that were not reviewed properly in-depth regarding the lower court's ruling.

"We express our deep regret," she said.

The CIO said it respects the ruling, adding its investigations were conducted based on law and principles from the very onset of the incident, according to YTN.

kelly@chinadailyapac.com