Yoon Suk Yeol, former President of South Korea, has been indicted on charges of rebellion. These charges come after President Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. The decision was unanimously voted down, thus lifting martial law after only six hours, and it led to his impeachment and arrest. This makes President Yoon the only president in the country’s history to be detained as well as indicted.
Yoon has been brought up on rebellion charges as, according to the prosecutors in his case, he had staged riots with the intention of undermining the country’s constitution. These riots came after, on Jan. 19, a local court had approved an arrest warrant for the President, after which supporters of Yoon stormed the courtroom and began destroying property, as well as attacking police officers, leading to 17 injuries amongst the officers and 46 of the rioters being detained.
Yoon was compelled to invoke martial law by the perceived threat of “North Korean communist forces” and “anti-state forces.” This also came a week after the National Assembly reduced the government’s budget. Yoon had also been targeted for impeachment 22 times since his assumption of office in May 2022.
Yoon’s defense team has stated they believe the attempt to push Yoon out of office is to win favor with political forces who desire his exit. They referred to the indictment as “a shame in the history of South Korean prosecutors,” as well as promising to “illegalities in the investigation.”
The decree of martial law led to what is considered the worst political crisis South Korea has gone through in decades as well as negatively affected the country’s already-struggling stock market, which is amongst the worst-performing markets in the world.
If Yoon decides to be removed from office, an election will be held within the following two months to decide a successor.
