Former President Yoon Suk-yeol has received a finalized prison sentence of seven years on charges including obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). The ruling comes 583 days after the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration. The Supreme Court for the first time explicitly recognized the CIO's authority to investigate insurrection charges. As a result, the dispute over the CIO's investigative jurisdiction, which Yoon's side had raised in insurrection-related criminal trials, has been settled for now.
The Third Division of the Supreme Court (presiding Justice Lee Sook-yeon) on the 9th dismissed Yoon's appeal and upheld the lower court ruling sentencing him to seven years in prison on charges including special obstruction of official duties. This marks the first finalized Supreme Court ruling among the eight criminal cases in which Yoon is involved, including as the ringleader of insurrection and general treason. The Supreme Court unusually explained the reasons for dismissing the appeal in the courtroom that day. It was also the first time a sentencing hearing for a case handled by a smaller division, rather than the full bench, was broadcast live.
Yoon was indicted by the insurrection special prosecution team in July last year on charges including mobilizing Presidential Security Service staff to obstruct the CIO's execution of an arrest warrant during the Dec. 3 emergency martial law investigation.
The first trial found him guilty of infringing on cabinet members' deliberation rights at the State Council meeting, drafting and destroying the martial law proclamation after the fact, ordering the submission of a secure phone and deletion of call records, and blocking the CIO's execution of the arrest warrant, sentencing him to five years in prison. The appellate court reversed the first trial's not-guilty finding on charges including false public relations targeting foreign media, and raised the sentence to seven years in prison. However, both the first and second trials found him not guilty on charges of using false official documents.
The Supreme Court, while maintaining the lower court's judgment, also found no problem with the CIO's investigative procedures, which had been a point of contention in the lower courts. Yoon's side had argued that the CIO lacked direct authority to investigate insurrection charges, and that the series of investigative procedures based on this premise, including the execution of arrest and search warrants, were illegal, and therefore the indictment should be dismissed. However, the Supreme Court determined that if the CIO recognized insurrection charges in the course of investigating abuse-of-power charges, it could also investigate the insurrection charge. The reasoning was that this constitutes a "directly related crime recognized during the investigation" under the CIO Act. The Supreme Court determined that "the insurrection charge overlaps in its background factual circumstances with the abuse-of-power charge, and thus direct relevance under the CIO Act is recognized," adding that "accordingly, the CIO's authority to investigate the insurrection charge is also recognized."
Immediately after the Supreme Court's finalized ruling, the CIO stated, "We accept this ruling as the final judicial conclusion regarding the investigative procedures and authority up to now," adding that it was "a decision that once again confirms the principle of the rule of law."
By contrast, Yoon's defense team hinted at the possibility of filing a constitutional complaint. The defense team stated, "We express deep regret over the conclusion of such a grave case without sufficient deliberation," adding, "We plan to contest the unconstitutionality of this ruling through constitutional adjudication procedures, including a constitutional complaint against the ruling."
Yoon watched the Supreme Court's sentencing broadcast on his mobile phone that day at the appellate hearing on charges including as ringleader of insurrection, held by Criminal Division 12-1 of the Seoul High Court (presiding judge Lee Seung-chul). At the moment the seven-year prison term for the charge of obstructing the execution of his own arrest warrant was finalized, Yoon nodded and looked at his lawyers. Some supporters in the gallery burst into tears. Attorney Song Jin-ho consoled the supporters, saying, "Don't be too disappointed," "I am not bothered at all, so don't be heartbroken," and "If you cry, we lose our strength too."
Meanwhile, senior officials of the Presidential Security Service, accused of obstructing the arrest at Yoon's direction during the CIO's execution of the arrest warrant, were also found guilty at their first trial that day. Criminal Division 26 of the Seoul Central District Court (presiding judge Lee Hyun-kyung) sentenced former Presidential Security Service Chief Park Chong-jun and former Deputy Chief Kim Seong-hoon to four years and five years in prison respectively, and detained them in court. Former Security Headquarters Chief Lee Kwang-woo, indicted on the same charges, was also sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
The court rebuked them, saying, "They systematically obstructed the investigation and judicial proceedings against Yoon, a suspect in insurrection crimes, hollowing out the function of the national legal order," adding, "In light of the motive and consequences of the crime, including creating the risk of causing physical clashes with the officials executing the warrant, the nature of the offense is poor and the culpability is significant."
