Court to rule on Yoon Suk Yeol's obstruction of justice charge on Jan. 16

(Herald DB)

The Seoul Central District Court said Tuesday that it will deliver a verdict on Jan. 16 in the trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol on the charge of obstruction of justice, mainly concerning his order to hinder the prosecution's attempts to arrest him in connection with his 2024 imposition of martial law.

Under the law on insurrection and treason governing the investigation of Yoon, the first ruling must be delivered within six months of the special counsel's indictment. The special counsel indicted the former South Korean leader on July 19, meaning the ruling must be made before Jan. 19.

Yoon faces a wide range of charges related to his short-lived martial law declaration. This particular deliberation covers his alleged obstruction of his own arrest in January, violations of the rights of nine Cabinet members by not convening a meeting with them to review his martial law plan, the deletion of secure phone records, the drafting of a revised version of the martial law proclamation after the decree was lifted, and the destruction of the official document.

Hearings in the case are set to conclude on Dec. 19 or 26.

Yoon's side has requested that the ruling on this case be made after the conclusion of his separate ongoing criminal trial for leading an insurrection. That case is expected to wrap up in January, with a verdict delivered in February.

However, the court rejected the request, saying the question of whether the martial law decree constituted an act of insurrection is irrelevant to the case at hand.