Former President Yoon Suk-yeol [Seoul Central District Court]

The special prosecutor's team investigating the coup attempt has requested a 10-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk-yeol in the appellate trial, who was indicted on charges including obstruction of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO)'s arrest.

In his final statement, former President Yoon reiterated his denial of the charges, stating, "The special prosecutor's team is trying to trap me politically with an indictment that goes against common sense." The sentencing date has been set for the 29th.

The special prosecutor's team made this request to the court during the final hearing of the case concerning former President Yoon's charges, including obstruction of official duties, held on the 6th at the Seoul High Court's special panel for coup attempt cases, presided over by Chief Judge Yoon Sung-sik.

The special prosecutor's team had previously sought a 10-year prison sentence in the first trial, but the first trial had sentenced him to 5 years, half of the requested sentence.

The special prosecutor's team pointed out, "The defendant abused the position of president, the nation's highest authority, to destroy the constitutional order and privatize public power, making the offense particularly grave." They added, "Despite the duty to uphold the constitution, the defendant committed grave crimes and showed no remorse, consistently denying the charges and maintaining an uncooperative attitude throughout the investigation and trial."

They further stated, "Even after the first trial's verdict, despite having an opportunity to offer sincere apologies and express remorse to the public, the defendant has continued to offer excuses and appeal his innocence." They emphasized that it is difficult to consider the first trial's sentence as appropriate for the gravity of the offense, noting that it included the fact that former President Yoon was a first-time offender as a favorable sentencing factor.

Previously, the first trial found former President Yoon guilty of charges including obstruction of official duties for mobilizing Presidential Security Service staff to obstruct the execution of the CIO's arrest warrant in January last year. He was also found guilty of abuse of power for infringing upon the martial law deliberation rights of seven cabinet members who were not convened for a meeting during the declaration of martial law on December 3rd. Furthermore, he was found guilty of fabricating a false proclamation of martial law and subsequently destroying it, making it appear as if martial law had been enacted through documents signed by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun after the lifting of martial law. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison for these offenses.

Second execution of President Yoon's arrest warrant, confrontation between CIO and Presidential Security Service [Yonhap News]

However, the court found him not guilty of charges related to the use of the false martial law proclamation (using forged public documents) and abuse of power for instructing the overseas public relations secretary to spread a press guidance containing false information to foreign media.

In this regard, the special prosecutor's team requested that the original verdict be overturned, arguing that there were errors in fact and law in the parts acquitted by the lower court, and that all charges be found guilty.

Regarding the charge of using the false martial law proclamation, the special prosecutor's team argued, "The fact that the then-assistant secretary of the annex office, Kang Ui-bu, kept the false proclamation in his office, making it available for use in Yoon's impeachment and investigation procedures, indicates that the act endangered public trust in documents. The lower court's finding that there was no such act constitutes a misinterpretation of the law."

Concerning the charge of spreading false press guidance to foreign media, they also argued that abuse of power should be recognized, stating, "The overseas public relations secretary was made to perform duties that were not incumbent upon them."

Appearing in a dark navy suit on this day, former President Yoon reiterated his denial of the charges during his 20-minute final statement.

He stated, "I had no intention of obstructing the arrest. As a prosecutor, I frequently attempted to execute warrants at the Blue House, but I was never able to enter due to it being a military facility and a security area. This is an established practice, and the security personnel knew this in common sense, so I acted in accordance with the law."

He then argued, "Even if they are trying to politically frame me, does it make sense to indict and put me on trial like this? I haven't received any large sums of political funds, so isn't this completely against common sense?"

He reiterated his previous assertion that the martial law declaration was "a warning," stating, "Just two and a half hours after the declaration of martial law, 190 members of the National Assembly went to the plenary session and passed a resolution to lift martial law. If the president or the military or the security authorities wanted to prevent this, why wouldn't they have been able to stop it with public power?"

The court has designated March 29th at 3 PM as the sentencing date. This will be the first sentencing since the establishment of the special panel for coup attempt cases at the Seoul High Court. The day before, on the 28th, the appellate trial verdict for former President Yoon's wife, Kim Keon-hee, concerning charges of stock price manipulation of Deutsch Motors and receiving money from the Unification Church, is scheduled.