The Seoul High Court's panel dedicated to insurrection cases also took on the appellate trial of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was sentenced to life in prison at the first trial on a charge of being a ringleader of an insurrection in connection with the Dec. 3 martial law crisis. It came 13 days after the first-trial verdict on the 19th.
According to legal sources on the 4th, the Seoul High Court assigned the second-trial case against the former president on charges including being an insurrection ringleader to Criminal Division 12-1 (Presiding Judges Lee Seung-cheol, Cho Jin-gu and Kim Min-a). The same panel is handling the cases of seven top military and police leaders, including former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun and former Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho.
Criminal Division 12-1 is the insurrection-dedicated panel designated by random draw under the Special Act on Criminal Procedure for Crimes of Insurrection, Treason and Rebellion. It is also hearing the case against former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on charges including engaging in crucial duties related to insurrection.
The panel consists of High Court Judges Lee Seung-cheol, Cho Jin-gu and Kim Min-a. It is a coequal panel in which the three high court judges conduct hearings and deliberations on an equal footing and rotate as presiding judge by case.
The former president and others were indicted on charges of proclaiming unconstitutional and unlawful martial law despite no signs of war, emergency or a comparable national crisis, and of staging a riot with the aim of disrupting the constitutional order.
Prosecutors said they mobilized martial law troops and police to blockade the National Assembly and obstruct a resolution to lift martial law, and attempted to arrest and detain key figures including National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, President Lee Jae-myung and former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, as well as staff of the National Election Commission.
On the 19th, the first trial sentenced the former president to life in prison. The court sentenced former Minister Kim, identified as the so-called "No. 2 in martial law," to 30 years in prison, and former Defense Intelligence Command chief Noh Sang-won, suspected of being part of a "shadow line" for martial law, to 18 years.
The court sentenced former Commissioner Cho, indicted for taking part in the National Assembly blockade, to 12 years in prison; former Seoul Metropolitan Police Commissioner Kim Bong-shik to 10 years; and former National Assembly Guard Commander Mok Hyun-tae to 3 years.
The first-trial court found the former president and others guilty of insurrection, concluding they staged a riot to disrupt the constitutional order. The court determined that a series of acts—including the proclamation of martial law and issuance of proclamations, the blockade of the National Assembly, the formation and operation of arrest teams targeting politicians, the occupation of the National Election Commission and removal of its servers, and attempts to arrest its staff—all constituted a riot.