Ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol Indicted Over Emergency Martial Law Justification

South Korea's second comprehensive special investigation team on August 12 indicted former President Yoon Suk-yeol and former National Security Office chief Shin Won-sik, accusing them of spreading information that sought to justify the '12·3' emergency martial law declaration. The indictment, reported by Yonhap News Agency, brings the total number of criminal proceedings against Yoon to nine. The special investigation team said Yoon allegedly acted immediately after announcing emergency martial law on December 3, directing the National Security Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey to the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and the European Union that 'the emergency martial law was justified.' The former president is now suspected of abuse of authority that obstructs the exercise of rights — specifically the charge of abusing his position to order civil servants to perform work that falls outside their official duties. The prosecution team filed the case on the same day that Yonhap reported the development, making it the latest in a series of criminal cases against the former president.