Overview
- Prosecutors led by Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk asked for a total of 10 years, allocating five years for obstructing detention, three years for violations tied to Cabinet deliberations, false statements and deleted records, and two years for drafting a revised proclamation.
- The charges accuse Yoon of mobilizing the Presidential Security Service to block investigators, excluding nine ministers from a Cabinet review, fabricating and later destroying a proclamation, directing misleading press releases, and deleting encrypted military phone records.
- The Seoul Central District Court signaled a verdict around Jan. 16, and the judge rejected a defense request to delay until after the separate insurrection case, which could see a ruling as early as February.
- Yoon, impeached and removed from office in April, is detained at a facility outside Seoul and has denied all charges in the martial law-related cases.
- This marks the first sentencing recommendation among four related trials, and a conviction in this case could prevent his release when his current custody period expires on Jan. 18, according to legal assessments and the court’s schedule.