The appeal in the case of 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 by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, was given priority assignment to the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 20 (Presiding Judge Hong Dong-gi, senior presiding judge).
According to legal sources on the 30th, the Seoul High Court assigned Yoon's case on charges including obstruction of special official duties and abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights to Criminal Division 20. However, the Seoul High Court said it plans to establish a division dedicated to insurrection cases reflecting the results of the regular judicial personnel reshuffle, raising the possibility that the case may be reassigned after the dedicated division begins operating.
Before the regular reshuffle, the Seoul High Court directed Criminal Division 20 to handle pre-merits interim tasks such as record management and ancillary rulings when cases intended for the dedicated division are filed. The insurrection-dedicated division is scheduled to begin operating from Feb. 23, along with judicial transfers. Once the dedicated division is established, insurrection-related cases, including the appeal in the arrest-obstruction case, may be reassigned.
At the first trial on the 16th, the court found Yoon guilty of key charges including obstruction of special official duties and sentenced him to five years in prison. The first-trial court determined that attempts on Jan. 3 and Jan. 15 last year to block the CIO's arrest attempts amounted to obstructing the lawful execution of a warrant by an investigative agency.
The court also found Yoon guilty of convening only some Cabinet members to give the appearance of a Cabinet meeting at the time of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law proclamation, and of creating and destroying a false proclamation to make it appear that martial law was carried out based on a document signed by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun after martial law was lifted. However, the court acquitted Yoon of ordering the dissemination to foreign media of a PG (press guidance) containing the false statement that "there was not the slightest intent to destroy the constitutional order."
Yoon's side and the special counsel on insurrection appealed the first-trial ruling.