The first pretrial hearing for President Yoon Suk-yeol, who faces charges of inciting rebellion, has been scheduled for 10 a.m. on the 20th. President Yoon is the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted under the constitution.
According to the legal community on the 3rd, the Criminal Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Director General Ji Gwi-yeon, has designated the first pretrial hearing for President Yoon, who was arrested and indicted on charges of rebellion, for 10 a.m. on the 20th. The pretrial hearing is a process to organize future trial plans before the formal trial. There is no obligation for the defendant to appear in court, so President Yoon may not attend on that day.
Criminal Division 25 handles cases related to the military and police officials indicted due to the emergency martial law situation on December 3, including President Yoon, Commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency Jo Ji-ho, former Seoul police chief Kim Bong-sik, and former Army Intelligence Command chief Roh Sang-won.
President Yoon was indicted on charges of rebellion (inciting rebellion) for allegedly conspiring with former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun and military commanders on December 3 of last year to declare a state of emergency to exclude national power or disrupt the national constitution. He also faces charges of abusing his authority by making police officers from the National Assembly Security Force and emergency forces perform duties that were not required and obstructing the exercise of the right of National Assembly members to demand the lifting of emergency martial law (obstruction of the exercise of authority).
The Special Investigation Headquarters for Emergency Martial Law (led by Deputy Minister Park Se-hyun of the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office) received the Yoon case from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on the 23rd of last month. Subsequently, the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office applied twice for an extension of the arrest warrant for President Yoon at the Seoul Central District Court, but both were dismissed. The Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office held a meeting with regional and district chief prosecutors across the country to gather opinions on legal issues and the direction of handling related to the president's rebellion case before indicting President Yoon on the 26th of last month.
President Yoon, along with former Minister Kim and former Commander Yeo, is currently undergoing trial in Criminal Division 25 regarding the martial law case. As a result, the court is expected to consider the possibility of combining cases during the pretrial hearing, taking into account concerns about trial delays and the fact that the trial involves a sitting president.