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Appeals court set to begin ex-President Yoon's obstruction of justice trial

Published: 04 Mar. 2026, 10:05

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol listens to a judge delivering his sentence during a first-instance verdict hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Feb. 19. The court sentenced him to life in prison for leading an insurrection through his imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. [SEOUL CENTRAL DISTRICT COURT]

An appeals court on Wednesday is set to hold the first hearing of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial on obstruction of justice and other charges stemming from his failed martial law bid.

The hearing is scheduled to take place at the Seoul High Court after a lower court sentenced Yoon to five years in prison in January on charges of obstructing investigators' attempt to detain him last year following his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.

He was also found guilty of violating the rights of Cabinet members who were not called to a meeting to review his martial law plan, and drafting and later destroying a revised proclamation after the decree was lifted.

Both Yoon and special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team, which sought a 10-year term, appealed the ruling.

The trial's proceedings will be led by the appellate court's Criminal Division 1 — one of two divisions recently designated to handle cases related to charges of insurrection, treason and rebellion.

Video recordings of the trial will be released online after the court accepted the special counsel team's request to broadcast the proceedings.

The former president is standing a total of eight trials in connection with the martial law attempt, his wife's alleged corruption and the 2023 death of a Marine.

In one of them, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection through his declaration of martial law.

Yonhap