South Korean court ordered the release of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday. Yoon is currently on trial for insurrection charges after imposing martial law in December.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled that prosecutors violated procedural rules by holding Yoon in custody longer than legally permitted before formally charging him last month.
Despite the ruling, Yoon was not immediately released from the detention center in southern Seoul, where he remains in custody. According to his lawyer, Seok Dong-hyun, prosecutors have one week to appeal the decision, during which Yoon will remain detained.
Yoon was arrested on January 15 and formally indicted 11 days later on insurrection charges related to his brief imposition of martial law in December. His lawyers have argued that his detention was unlawful, a claim the court accepted on Friday by ruling that prosecutors had held him beyond the legal time limit.
The ruling focused solely on whether prosecutors had followed proper procedures in Yoon’s arrest and indictment, without addressing the charges he faces in his criminal trial.
On December 3, Yoon declared martial law, claiming that the opposition-controlled National Assembly was “paralyzing” his government. However, the Assembly voted against his decree, forcing him to revoke it within six hours. The incident triggered South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades.
On December 14, amid mass protests, the Assembly impeached Yoon and suspended him from office. The country’s Constitutional Court is currently reviewing whether his impeachment was legitimate and whether he should be formally removed from office. Meanwhile, prosecutors arrested Yoon on insurrection charges, making him the first president in South Korean history to face a criminal trial while still in office.
Yoon’s case has sparked intense legal battles between his defense team and prosecutors. One key dispute was the validity of the arrest warrant used to detain him on January 15. The court determined that the warrant had expired hours before prosecutors indicted him on January 26. According to the law, if a suspect is not formally charged before the warrant expires, they must be released.
The court warned that failing to resolve these procedural disputes now could raise questions about the legitimacy of the future verdict on Yoon’s insurrection charges.
“Today’s ruling may seem confusing, but in reality, it doesn’t change anything fundamental, except that President Yoon will likely continue his trial as a free man,” said Sung Deuk Hahm, a political science professor at Kyonggi University.
Yoon’s lawyers and his party, the conservative People Power Party, welcomed the court’s decision, arguing that he should be able to defend himself in court as a free man. However, the main opposition Democratic Party, which led Yoon’s impeachment, condemned the ruling and urged prosecutors to appeal.
If Yoon is released, it is likely to energize his supporters, who have held rallies in central Seoul in recent weeks, calling his impeachment and detention a “fraud” orchestrated by his political opponents.
In a related incident, police reported that an elderly South Korean man was taken to the hospital on Friday after setting himself on fire in central Seoul. Authorities did not disclose details about his motives or condition, but pamphlets expressing support for Yoon were found nearby.
