In a deepening legal saga, former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been indicted by prosecutors for abuse of authority, according to a report from Yonhap News Agency on Thursday. This latest charge intensifies Yoon’s mounting legal woes, which already include a high-profile trial on insurrection charges tied to his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.
The new indictment, which was issued without an arrest warrant, alleges that Yoon ordered military and police forces to block access to the National Assembly on December 3, 2024, during his failed attempt to impose martial law. The special prosecution team confirmed that Yoon has been indicted without physical detention for abuse of authority and obstruction of rights.
This development comes just three months after Yoon was initially charged with insurrection on January 26, a charge not shielded by the constitutional immunity granted to sitting presidents. At that time, Yoon became the first sitting president in South Korean history to be indicted while in detention.
Prosecutors had initially refrained from filing the abuse of authority charges due to Yoon’s presidential immunity. However, following his removal from office by the Constitutional Court last month, the legal path was cleared to proceed with further indictments.
A prosecution official noted that the investigative team had gathered sufficient evidence to support the new charges.
In a strategic legal move, prosecutors have requested the Seoul Central District Court—which is already handling the insurrection case—to merge the new abuse of power case with the ongoing trial for a joint hearing.
Yoon is also accused of conspiring with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and other top officials to unlawfully declare martial law—despite the absence of any legitimate national emergency such as war or armed conflict. Prosecutors claim that Yoon deployed military forces to prevent lawmakers from voting against the martial law declaration, effectively obstructing the legislative process.
As this historic legal case unfolds, all eyes remain on the South Korean judiciary to determine the outcome of the former president’s trials.
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