Appeals Court Increases Former President Yoon's Sentence to 7 Years in Obstruction Case

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- An appeals court on Wednesday increased the sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol from five years to seven years in prison on obstruction of justice and other charges stemming from his failed martial law bid. The Seoul High Court handed down the heavier punishment in a live-televised ruling, finding the former president guilty of obstructing investigators from detaining him in January 2025 over his short-lived imposition of martial law the previous month. Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team had sought a 10-year prison term for Yoon. Yoon's lawyers vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, calling it "unacceptable." The appellate court upheld most of the lower court's ruling, finding Yoon guilty of ordering the deletion of secure phone records and creating and then discarding a false proclamation after the decree was lifted. It also ruled that the former president violated the rights of his Cabinet members by calling only a group of select members to a meeting to review his martial law plan. While the lower court had determined that Yoon had not violated the rights of two Cabinet members who did not show up despite being called to the meeting, the appeals court ruled their rights had been violated as well. The high court also overturned the lower court's acquittal of Yoon on power abuse charges related to his orders to distribute false press statements defending his declaration. It marked the first ruling by the Seoul High Court's insurrection division in a case over Yoon's martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024. The trial division was launched in February after the National Assembly passed a bill on the establishment of such divisions dedicated to handling cases of insurrection, treason and mutiny, including those related to Yoon's martial law bid. The jailed former president has been standing a total of eight trials in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law, as well as corruption allegations involving his wife and the 2023 death of a Marine. In February, a district court sentenced him to life imprisonment on charges of leading an insurrection through his declaration of martial law.