Yoon Suk Yeol former President of South Korea who recently imposed martial law across the country has been charged with “abuse of power.”
According to details of his case, Yoon on the night of December 3-4 last year, imposed martial law by surprise.
He sent the military to blockade the opposition-dominated parliament. But enough lawmakers managed to rally to thwart this coup.
Dismissed by the Constitutional Court on April 4, Mr. Yoon now faces a criminal trial.
Despite the very heavy penalties he faces, he is appearing free, his pretrial detention having been canceled due to procedural irregularities on March 8.
On Wednesday, prosecutors raided the former South Korean president’s Seoul home as part of a separate investigation into a shaman accused of receiving luxury gifts for former first lady Kim Keon-hee, according to Yonhap news agency.
The shaman in question, Jeon Seong-bae, reportedly received a diamond necklace, a luxury bag, and ginseng, a popular product in South Korea that can cost thousands of euros.
Police also raided Yoon Suk Yeol’s former presidential office, as well as his security detail’s office and the residence of the detail’s chief, in mid-April as part of an investigation into “alleged obstruction of an arrest warrant.”
If convicted, Mr. Yoon will become the third former South Korean president to be convicted, after Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo in 1996, of “insurrection” following a 1979 coup.
South Korea will hold a snap presidential election on June 3. The main opposition movement, the Democratic Party, has already nominated its candidate.
