Former South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been indicted once again, this time for abuse of power linked to his controversial martial law declaration, prosecutors confirmed on Thursday.
The new charge adds to the already extensive legal battles the impeached leader is facing.
The fresh indictment, issued without detention, coincides with Yoon’s ongoing trial over what prosecutors describe as an attempted insurrection.
On December 3, Yoon declared martial law in an effort to suspend civilian governance in South Korea, a democratic nation.
Armed forces were dispatched to the National Assembly under the directive, but the decree was nullified within six hours after opposition lawmakers physically breached the parliamentary compound to overturn the order.
In the aftermath, Yoon was impeached for the martial law move. The Constitutional Court ratified the impeachment in April, stripping the 64-year-old of all presidential authority and benefits.
He was subsequently evicted from the presidential residence.
Back in January, while still in office, Yoon faced his first indictment, with prosecutors labeling him “the ringleader of an insurrection,” a charge not protected by presidential immunity.
“We have since proceeded with the (insurrection) trial while conducting supplementary investigations into the abuse of power allegation, leading to this additional indictment,” prosecutors explained in Thursday’s statement.
Yoon had been arrested in mid-January following a tense standoff with law enforcement but was granted release in March on procedural grounds.
Just a day before the new charge, investigators raided Yoon’s private home in Seoul as part of a separate probe into alleged bribery involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee, and a shaman said to have accepted lavish gifts on her behalf.
Expanding Legal Troubles
The former president and his wife are now entangled in multiple legal cases that go beyond the martial law incident.
Authorities are looking into claims that a shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, received expensive items, including a diamond necklace, luxury handbag, and ginseng valued at thousands, from a Unification Church official and delivered them to Kim.
In addition, the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office has revived an investigation into Kim Keon Hee’s suspected role in a stock manipulation case that was previously shelved during Yoon’s tenure.
Further allegations accuse Yoon of unlawfully interfering in the nomination of parliamentary candidates for his party while serving as president-elect in 2022.
Yoon has consistently rejected all accusations, maintaining his innocence.
If found guilty of insurrection, the former leader could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty, though South Korea has upheld a de facto moratorium on capital punishment since 1997.
Yoon is the second president in the country’s history to be removed from office and the third to be impeached by the legislature.
With his departure from power, South Korea is scheduled to hold a snap election on June 3.
