Former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was sentenced to five years in prison at the first trial on charges including obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant and infringing on Cabinet members' deliberation rights, filed an appeal on the 19th. Yoon's defense team said it submitted a notice of appeal to the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 35 (Presiding Judge Baek Dae-hyeon, Director General) at about 4 p.m. that day.
Yoon's defense team held a press conference the same day to announce the appeal and argued there were procedural problems during the first trial. Attorney Yu Jeong-hwa, who attended the briefing, said, "The court initially announced it would hold the sentencing argument date on the 16th of this month, but abruptly changed it to a sentencing date without prior notice or sufficient procedural explanation."
The defense argued that although the 16th had been scheduled as the procedure to close arguments, the court proceeded to sentencing without prior notice.
The defense also said the court summarily dismissed evidence the defense had submitted and spoke as if the responsibility lay with the defendant. The defense said, "Even though it had allowed documentary evidence to be submitted via USB in advance, it suddenly said at the court hearing that everything would be dismissed unless printed on paper," adding, "When counsel pointed out the prior understanding, the court reversed its stance and allowed documentary evidence review after the sentencing recommendation, seriously undermining procedural predictability and fairness."
Earlier, immediately after the first-instance sentencing, the defense expressed its intent to challenge the ruling. In a statement on the 17th, it also argued that with the verdict in Yoon's insurrection ringleader case still pending, the court rushed to conclude the trial before the core facts underpinning that judgment were finalized. The defense further claimed the court "constructed its logic on the premise of a pre-set conclusion by the special counsel."
As Yoon's side appealed, the possibility of an appeal by the special counsel on insurrection is also being discussed.
At the first trial on the 16th of this month, the court sentenced former President Yoon to five years in prison on charges including obstruction of special official duties. The court found him guilty of obstructing investigators' execution of an arrest warrant, infringing on the deliberation rights of seven Cabinet members related to emergency martial law, ordering the deletion of secure phone call logs, and drafting false official documents related to the post hoc preparation of a martial law proclamation.