A South Korean president does not have immunity in insurrection charges, which are punishable by life imprisonment or death.
Published On 26 Jan 2025
South Korea’s prosecutors have indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection with his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3.
In a statement on Sunday, the prosecutors said they “indicted Yoon Suk Yeol with detention on charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection”.
“After a comprehensive review of evidence obtained during investigations, the [prosecutors] concluded that it was only appropriate to indict the defendant,” the statement said.
Earlier on Sunday, Democratic Party spokesman Han Min-soo told a news conference: “The punishment of the ringleader of insurrection now begins finally.”
Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity. It is punishable by life imprisonment or death, although South Korea has not executed anyone in decades.
Anticorruption investigators last week recommended charging the jailed Yoon, who w