Ex-President Yoon faces a possible 10-year prison sentence

During the final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors called for five years for Yoon’s alleged obstruction of his arrest; three years for charges involving the obstruction of Cabinet members’ constitutional rights and dissemination of false information to foreign media; and two years for fabricating official documents to justify his declaration of martial law.

“The defendant committed a grave crime by privatizing state institutions to cover up and justify his own wrongdoing,” the special counsel said. “His actions severely undermined the rule of law in Korea and betrayed the trust of the people who elected him as president.

“Despite the gravity of his crimes, the defendant has shown no remorse or apology to the public throughout the investigation and trial, instead reiterating the legitimacy of the martial law declaration,” the team continued before emphasizing the need to “hold the defendant accountable to restore constitutional order and prevent future abuse of power by the nation’s highest office.”

Yoon was indicted in July for allegedly convening a Cabinet meeting with only a few handpicked ministers to assume the legitimate procedures for a martial law declaration, which the special counsel saw as infringing on the constitutional rights of nine other Cabinet members excluded from the meeting.

He also faces charges of creating and later destroying a false document — classified as a presidential record — implying that the declaration was made with the consent of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

Other charges include ordering the dissemination of a press release stating he had no intention of undermining the constitutional order to mislead the international press.

He is additionally accused of instructing officials to delete encrypted communication records involving Yeo In-hyung, the former chief of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, as well as ordering the Presidential Security Service to obstruct the execution of an arrest warrant issued by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in January.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL  [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]