Appellate court hands ex-President Yoon stiffer 7-year sentence for obstruction, abuse of authority
Published: 29 Apr. 2026, 19:23
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- KIM JI-YE
- [email protected]
![Former President Yoon Suk Yeol appears for his trial on obstruction of justice and other charges at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Sept. 26, 2025. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/29/39641938-accf-4f4d-b1f9-db56f564f699.jpg)
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol appears for his trial on obstruction of justice and other charges at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Sept. 26, 2025. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Former president Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Seoul High Court on Wednesday for obstruction of official duties and abuse of authority, two years longer than the five-year imprisonment handed down in his first trial on the same charges.
“The defendant completely failed to notify seven Cabinet members and infringed on the right of all nine members, including two who were notified but unable to attend, to deliberate on martial law,” the court ruled regarding the abuse of authority charge related to the convening of Cabinet members.
The ruling overturned part of the lower court’s acquittal and found the defendant guilty on all counts.
In the first trial, the court acquitted Yoon, ruling that the abuse-of-authority charge against two Cabinet members — former Land Minister Park Sang-woo and former Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun — who had received notice of the meeting but were unable to attend did not apply.
![The Seoul Hight Court sentence against former president Yoon Suk Yeol is broadcast on a television screen in Seoul Station on April 29. [NEW1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/29/1256c5e4-b4cc-4c6f-8219-a33ebff46338.jpg)
The Seoul Hight Court sentence against former president Yoon Suk Yeol is broadcast on a television screen in Seoul Station on April 29. [NEW1]
The lower court applied the charge against the former president only for the seven other members who had not been notified at all.
However, the appellate court found that, considering the two officials’ locations and travel time at the time, the notice was given at a point when it was effectively impossible for them to attend the Cabinet meeting, and therefore their right to take part in Cabinet deliberations was also infringed.
Yoon previously claimed that the arrest warrant executed by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) was unlawful, arguing the anticorruption watchdog lacked the authority to handle insurrection charges and that the presidential residence could not be searched as it is a “high-security area."
He was detained by the CIO after its second attempt on Jan. 15, 2025, about a month after his impeachment by the National Assembly. The CIO aborted its first attempt to take him into custody on Jan. 3, after a five-and-a-half-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service.
But the Seoul High Court refuted his claim that CIO officials should not have entered his residence. “Given the seriousness of the charges, including insurrection, it is difficult to conclude that entering the presidential residence to execute the initial warrant would harm significant national interests, and therefore the execution of the warrant cannot be deemed unlawful,” it ruled.
The court also upheld the lower court’s guilty verdict against Yoon on charges of obstructing the execution of the warrant by mobilizing Presidential Security Service personnel.
“Refusing the execution of a lawful arrest without justifiable grounds and using physical force to obstruct it cannot be permitted,” the court said.
The appeals court further overturned the lower court’s acquittal of Yoon on charges of ordering the dissemination of press guidance to foreign media containing false claims that there was no intention whatsoever to undermine the constitutional order.
![Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is charged with offenses including obstruction of official duties and abuse of authority, stands to hear the verdict during his appellate sentencing hearing at the Seoul High Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on April 29. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/29/f36bf38e-265c-42e1-9f45-9e83dad6223c.jpg)
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is charged with offenses including obstruction of official duties and abuse of authority, stands to hear the verdict during his appellate sentencing hearing at the Seoul High Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on April 29. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
“The defendant bears significant responsibility for ordering the dissemination of false information to foreign media,” the court said.
The court upheld the lower court’s guilty verdict on charges of creating and destroying false official documents, stemming from allegations that Yoon fabricated a martial law proclamation after declaring emergency martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. The charges included violations of the Presidential Records Management Act and damage to official documents.
However, the court maintained the lower court’s acquittal on the charge of actually using the documents.
It also upheld the guilty verdict for ordering the deletion of secure-line phone records, in violation of the Presidential Security Act.
The phone was believed to contain crucial evidence related to Yoon’s martial law decree, but police failed six times to seize the device, widely referred to as his “secret phone.”
The ruling marks the first appellate decision related to the Dec. 3 emergency martial law case involving the former president, as well as the first verdict by the Seoul High Court’s division dedicated to insurrection cases. The division was established on Dec. 23 to handle Yoon’s case.
“The defendant bears heavy responsibility, as using Presidential Security Service personnel as a private force to obstruct official duties is highly blameworthy,” the court said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK JONG-SUH, KIM JI-YE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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