South Korea Files Criminal Insurrection Case Against Former President Yoon

After former President Yoon was overthrown, South Korea formally began a criminal rebellion trial against him.

As he stood trial for allegedly inciting an uprising, South Korea’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, told a Seoul court Monday that his brief imposition of martial law last year was “not a coup d’état.”

Yoon faces criminal charges for imposing martial law for six hours in late 2024, which caused widespread protests and fierce parliamentary opposition. The Constitutional Court dismissed Yoon from office earlier this month for exceeding constitutional powers. Months of political turmoil were brought on by the backlash, which finally resulted in his ouster.

Wearing a dark blue suit and scarlet tie, Yoon arrived at the Seoul Central District Court in a motorcade and entered the courtroom to refute the accusations made against him. The trial began with the prosecution claiming that Yoon had no legal basis for imposing martial law and that he was trying to weaken important government institutions.

Prosecutors informed the court that the defendant “made it impossible for constitutional institutions to exercise their authority based on an unlawful declaration.”

During the morning session, Yoon, who was South Korea’s chief prosecutor prior to being elected president, spent almost forty minutes disputing the prosecution’s allegations.

“Martial law is not a coup d’état,” Yoon argued, adding that the decision was intended to show how the ruling opposition party was impeding government by impeaching more than 20 officials, including the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, rather than to paralyze the nation.

“Martial law was a nonviolent “message” to the country. He remarked, “I knew that martial law would end in a day or half a day.”

Despite having communicated this goal to former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Yoon continued, military personnel responsible with carrying out the order seems to have gone beyond it, most likely as a result of training procedures based on various martial law scenarios.