S. Korean appeals court upholds acquittal of ex-president Yoon in perjury trial

SEOUL - A South Korean appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's acquittal of former president Yoon Suk-yeol in a perjury trial related to his testimony in the insurrection trial of former prime minister Han Duck-soo, according to Yonhap news agency.

The Seoul High Court ruled in favor of Yoon, maintaining the not-guilty first-instance verdict delivered in May.

The team of Cho Eun-suk, an independent counsel who led investigations into Yoon's insurrection and other charges, lowered its demand from a prison sentence to a 10 million won (about 7,300 US dollars) fine during the appeal.

Yoon was accused of giving false testimony during the trial of the former prime minister regarding a cabinet meeting on his martial law declaration.

The special prosecution team alleged that there was initially no plan to hold the cabinet meeting, but Yoon's legal team maintained that Yoon intended to hold the meeting to fulfill legal requirements.

Yoon was sentenced to life in prison in February for the insurrection stemming from his martial law declaration.

Yoon declared emergency martial law on the night of Dec 3, 2024, but the National Assembly revoked it hours later.

He was arrested and later indicted in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of the insurrection, making him the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted.