[Edaily Reporter Namkung Min-kwan ] The second-instance sentencing for former President Yoon Suk-yeol—who was sentenced in the first trial to disqualification from office on charges of disseminating false information ahead of the 20th presidential election—will take place this week. The second-instance trial regarding former President Yoon’s charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection in connection with the December 3 state of emergency is also scheduled to conclude its closing arguments.
According to legal circles on the 1st, the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 2-1 (Presiding Judge Baek Seung-yeop) will hold the second-instance sentencing hearing for former President Yoon on charges including violations of the Public Official Election Act at 2:00 p.m. on the 4th.
Ahead of this sentencing hearing, the court granted a request for a live broadcast on the 30th of last month, deciding to broadcast the proceedings in real time using the court’s own equipment and transmitting the feed to broadcasters.
Former President Yoon is accused of making a false statement on December 14, 2021—while he was a candidate in the 20th presidential election—during a debate hosted by the Kwanhoon Club, claiming that he had not introduced attorney Lee Nam-seok, a former member of the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, to Yoon Woo-jin, the former head of the Yongsan Tax Office.
In this regard, Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki’s team believes that former President Yoon did, in fact, introduce Attorney Lee to former Director Yoon but made the false statement out of concern that his approval ratings would drop.
He is also accused of making a false statement during a media interview on January 17, 2022, claiming that while he had been introduced to Mr. Jeon Seong-bae, a Buddhist monk known as “Geonjin,” by a party official, he had never met him together with Mrs. Kim Keon-hee.
Previously, the trial court found him guilty on all charges and sentenced him to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years. The trial court also noted, “The nature of the crime is extremely grave, as the candidate publicly made false statements during the presidential election campaign regarding a matter that was of great interest to voters.”
At the appellate sentencing hearing held on the 13th, the special prosecution team requested that the court impose the same sentence as the first-instance court—a disqualification from office.
If former President Yoon’s sentence is finalized as is, the People Power Party will be required to return 39.7 billion won in election funds. Under the Public Official Election Act, if a presidential election winner receives a final sentence involving the annulment of their election—such as a fine of 1 million won or more for an election-related crime—they must return the funds advanced by the National Election Commission.
Meanwhile, the second-instance trial regarding former President Yoon’s charges of leading an insurrection will also conclude its arguments this week on the 3rd and 5th.
The Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 12-1 (Presiding Judge Lee Seung-cheol) plans to hear closing arguments from the defense team for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun—who was indicted alongside former President Yoon—at the hearing on the 3rd, and closing arguments from former President Yoon’s defense team along with final statements from each defendant at the hearing on the 5th.
This case is considered the “main” case among those involving former President Yoon, as he is accused of inciting a riot with the intent to subvert the Constitution by declaring a state of emergency on December 3. In the first trial, former President Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment, and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok’s team sought the death penalty for former President Yoon and a life sentence for former Minister Kim at the appellate trial’s closing arguments on the 29th of last month.
