South Korea: Impeached President Yoon indicted for insurrection amid martial law bid

Seoul, January 26: Prosecutors have formally indicted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of organizing an insurrection related to his brief declaration of martial law last month. With this, Yoon Suk Yeol becomes the first sitting South Korean president to be indicted while in detention, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency.

The indictment comes just one day before Yoon's detention was scheduled to expire. He had been taken into custody on January 15 by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) over his December 3 declaration of martial law. Yoon was officially arrested on January 19.

Since the CIO lacks the authority to indict a sitting president, the case was transferred to the prosecution last week. On Sunday, senior prosecutors from across the country convened to discuss the next steps in the case.

The prosecution team investigating the case said they had reviewed the evidence, and based on the comprehensive review, it was determined that indicting the defendant was appropriate, Yonhap reported.

Yoon is accused of conspiring with former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others to incite an insurrection by declaring martial law. He is also alleged to have ordered the deployment of military forces to block a parliamentary vote that sought to repeal the decree.

Earlier, on January 23, the CIO handed over its investigation into President Yoon's alleged attempt to impose martial law to the prosecution, urging that he be charged with insurrection and abuse of power.

The CIO had said that it transferred all related investigation materials, totaling over 30,000 pages compiled into 69 volumes.

On December 14, Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly over his attempt to impose martial law in the country. The members of the unicameral National Assembly had voted 204 to 85 to impeach South Korea's President.