Yoon Seok-youl faces a 10-year sentence in the second trial for allegedly obstructing arrest.

Ask AI · What are the deeper reasons behind Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law?

△ Yoon Suk Yeol (data photo)

According to reports from South Korea on the 6th, a special investigation team probing former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s case in which he is suspected of obstructing an arrest has requested that, in the second trial of the case, he be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

On December 26, 2025, the special investigation team responsible for investigating the emergency martial law incident previously asked the court to impose a 10-year prison sentence on Yoon Suk Yeol on charges including alleged obstruction of an arrest. This January 16, Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 5 years in prison in the first trial of the case. The special investigation team subsequently said it has filed an appeal against the first-trial verdict.

Yoon Suk Yeol is currently facing 8 criminal lawsuits, and this case is one of the cases in which he is suspected of being involved in matters related to insurrection. On February 19, the Central District Court of Seoul ruled on the charge of leading an insurrection and sentenced Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment.

On the night of December 3, 2024, then South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued an emergency martial law order, citing the need to eliminate “pro-North forces.” In the early hours of the following day, the South Korean National Assembly passed a resolution calling for the lifting of the martial law order. After that, Yoon Suk Yeol was successively suspended from his post, arrested, and impeached.