Special counsel seeks 2 years for Yoon in election law violation case

A special counsel team on Monday sought a two-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol for violating the election law in the lead-up to his presidential election in 2022.

Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team made the sentencing recommendation at the Seoul Central District Court during the final hearing of Yoon's trial on charges of violating the Public Officials Election Act when he was the presidential candidate of the People Power Party (PPP).

Yoon is accused of falsely claiming during a debate in December 2021 that he did not introduce a lawyer to a former tax agency official. He is also accused of having falsely claimed in an interview in January 2022 that he had been introduced to Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman, by a party official and that he had not met the shaman with his wife.

Jeon is known for his ties to Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee, and was sentenced to a five-year prison term by an appellate court last month for accepting bribes from the Unification Church in 2022 by colluding with Kim.

Min's team argued that Yoon's alleged actions had an impact on the results of the 2022 presidential election, which he won by a narrow margin.

Should Yoon be convicted of election law violations and given a final sentence of 1 million won ($651) or more in fine, the PPP must return approximately 39.7 billion won it was reimbursed for its expenses in the 2022 presidential election.

The jailed former president has been standing multiple trials following his failed martial law bid in December 2024. A Seoul district court sentenced him to life imprisonment in February for leading an insurrection through his failed bid.

Yonhap