Former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Provided by the Seoul Central District Court

After the Supreme Court on the 9th finalized a seven-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk-yeol on the charge of ‘obstruction of arrest’ in connection with the 12·3 insurrection, his side stated, "To protect basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution, we plan to challenge the unconstitutionality of this ruling through constitutional adjudication procedures, including a constitutional petition against the judgment."

Yoon's legal defense team said in a statement that day, "From the perspectives of the rule of law and the warrant principle, which are the foundations of the Constitution, we deeply regret that the highest court concluded a case of such gravity without sufficient review," and made this point. A constitutional petition against a judgment is a system under which the Constitutional Court can determine whether even court rulings are unconstitutional and annul them. It was introduced in March through the government·ruling party's judicial reform.

The defense argued that the Supreme Court heard this important case not before the full bench, in which at least two-thirds of the justices participate, but in a small panel of only four justices, thereby "seriously infringing the defendant's (former President Yoon) right to a fair trial."

They stated, "Because it is a highly constitutional issue that profoundly affects the structure of state power and the basic rights of the people, it ought to have been addressed in depth by the Supreme Court's full bench," adding, "By dismissing the final appeal on a tighter schedule than even ordinary cases without so much as a full-bench hearing, this amounts to inadequate review that abandons the court of last resort's function and to the politicization of the judiciary."

The Supreme Court's Third Division (presiding Justice Lee Suk-yeon) on this day affirmed the lower court's ruling that sentenced former President Yoon to seven years in prison in the appeal on charges including obstruction of special official duties·abuse of authority to interfere with the exercise of rights.

Former President Yoon was indicted on charges including that in January last year, at the presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, he mobilized the Presidential Security Service to obstruct the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and the police; that just before proclaiming martial law on December 3, 2024, he failed to properly convene Cabinet members, thereby infringing their deliberation authority; and that he signed the post hoc martial law proclamation to make it appear as though the martial law had gone through lawful procedures.