The Supreme Court is set to issue a ruling this week on former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was indicted last year for obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO).
According to legal sources on July 5, the Supreme Court's Third Division, led by Justice Lee Sook-yeon, will hold a ruling session on July 9 at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 1. This will mark the first Supreme Court decision regarding Yoon, 583 days after the declaration of martial law on December 3.
Yoon was arrested in July last year by the Insurrection Special Prosecutor's team, led by Cho Eun-seok, for mobilizing personnel from the Presidential Security Service to prevent the execution of a CIO arrest warrant.
He is also accused of violating the rights of nine cabinet members by convening only a select few for a meeting during the martial law declaration, thereby infringing on the rights of those who could not attend.
In January, the first trial found Yoon guilty of obstructing the execution of the arrest warrant and sentenced him to five years in prison.
However, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1, which specializes in insurrection cases, increased the sentence to seven years in April during the second trial.
The second trial upheld the guilty verdicts for both the obstruction of the CIO arrest warrant and the violation of cabinet members' rights during the martial law declaration.
Additionally, the court found Yoon guilty of instructing the distribution of a false press guidance (PG) to foreign media, which claimed he had no intention of undermining constitutional order, contradicting the first trial's not guilty verdict.
Both Yoon's legal team and the special prosecutors have appealed, leading to the Supreme Court's review.
One contentious issue between the first and second trials involved the violation of cabinet members' rights, particularly concerning former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sang-woo and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Deok-geun, who were notified late and could not arrive before the meeting's conclusion.
The first trial ruled there were no regulations limiting the notification of the meeting and found no intent to obstruct, while the second trial reversed this, noting that the notification was sent at a time when attendance was effectively impossible.
The court emphasized that the cabinet must operate in a manner that allows for thorough deliberation of important national policies, indicating procedural flaws in the meeting.
For seven other cabinet members, including Lee Joo-ho, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, who received no prior notification, both trials found Yoon guilty of infringing on their rights.
Another point of contention was Yoon's alleged instruction to then-Secretary for Overseas Publicity Hah Tae-won to create and distribute a PG containing false information the day after the martial law declaration.
The PG stated that "there was no restriction on lawmakers' access to the National Assembly" and "there was no intention to undermine constitutional order," which both trials agreed were false. However, the first trial acquitted Hah, stating he had no obligation to verify the false information, while the second trial found that he did have such an obligation.
The charge of abuse of power requires that a person be compelled to perform an act that is not within their duties, and the second trial concluded that the duty of care regarding the preparation and distribution of press releases is included under the Civil Service Act.
The Supreme Court's prior rulings indicated that administrative agencies should not present only positive aspects or use exaggerated or definitive expressions that could lead to misunderstandings, citing a December 2017 ruling.
The obstruction of arrest charge, a central issue in this case, was found guilty in both trials.
Yoon has maintained that the arrest and search warrants issued by the CIO and the Seoul Western District Court on December 30 and January 7 were illegal, but these claims were dismissed.
He was found guilty of conspiring with Park Jong-jun, head of the Security Service, Kim Sung-hoon, deputy head, and Lee Kwang-woo, head of the Security Headquarters, to obstruct the execution of the warrants and facilitate his escape.
He was also found guilty of instructing Kim to format three secret phones in preparation for the insurrection investigation and approving the shredding of the martial law declaration document after signing it to avoid controversy.
If the Supreme Court agrees with the second trial's findings, Yoon will face a confirmed seven-year prison sentence. If there is any divergence in judgment on even one issue, the case will be sent back to the Seoul High Court for retrial.
This case represents the first Supreme Court ruling against Yoon, the central figure in the martial law crisis, more than a year and seven months after the declaration.
The special prosecutors have requested permission for a live broadcast of the ruling, which, if granted, would mark the first time a ruling scene is broadcasted from a Supreme Court division composed of four justices.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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