December 27, 2025 | 11:42 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - South Korea's special prosecutor on Friday, December 26, sought a 10-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol in a criminal case linked to his failed bid to impose martial law last year. The demand was made during the closing hearing at the Central District Court in Seoul.
According to The Korea Herald's report, this marks the first sentencing request among a number of criminal cases arising from the martial law declaration. This trial is the first to reach the prosecution stage among four cases handled under the special prosecutor law.
Details of the Prosecution's Demands
The prosecution team requested a five-year prison term for the charge of obstructing Yoon Suk Yeol's arrest. Another three years were sought for violating the constitutional rights to deliberate and vote on the declaration of martial law, including attempts to spread false information to foreign media and orders to delete secure phone records.
An additional two years were sought for the alleged fabrication of written documents related to the martial law declaration, bringing the total demand to 10 years. In their closing hearing, the prosecutors stated that Yoon had abused state power. “The defendant abused his authority to conceal his crimes and privatized state institutions for personal purposes,” said the special prosecutor, as reported by The Korea Times.
The prosecutors also emphasized that all presidential authority derives from the people. Therefore, they deemed a heavy sentence necessary to prevent the abuse of power by the country's top leader.
Obstruction of Arrest and Abuse of Authority
Obstruction of justice refers to the events of January 3, when Yoon allegedly ordered armed security personnel of the Presidential Security Service to block investigators from the High-Ranking Officials' Corruption Investigation Office. “The mobilization of heavily armed security personnel to block a lawfully issued warrant is unprecedented," said the special prosecutor.
Yoon is also accused of abusing his authority during the cabinet meeting preceding the declaration of martial law by summoning only specific ministers and excluding others, thus violating the constitutional rights of the cabinet.
The court stated that a verdict will be announced no later than January 16, in accordance with the special prosecutor law. If this schedule is met, the sentence will be delivered two days before Yoon's detention period ends on January 18 and will mark the first ruling in the series of cases related to martial law.
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