ROK court gives ex-President Yoon suspended jail term for violating election law

Former Republic of Korea (ROK) President Yoon Suk-yeol faced the nullification of his election over a suspended prison sentence for election law violations linked to false statements during the presidential campaign, live footage showed on Monday.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon to one and a half years in prison, suspended for three years, saying Yoon disseminated false information during the presidential campaign in violation of the election act.

The court found Yoon made false statements during the 2022 ⁠presidential campaign when he denied introducing a lawyer to a former tax official ​and claimed he and his wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, had ​not met shaman Jeon Seong-bae. Both relationships had come under scrutiny during the election campaign.

The court accepted prosecutors' arguments that Yoon had introduced the lawyer to the former official and maintained ​a long-standing relationship with Jeon after first meeting him through Kim.

The team of Min Joong-ki, an independent counsel who led an investigation into corruption allegations involving Yoon and his wife, sought a two-year prison term for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Under the act, an elected official's election is invalidated if they are fined over 1 million won (about $680) in the final ruling. As Yoon is a former president, he will not be stripped of office, but the legal validity of his 2022 presidential election will become null and void retroactively.

If the invalidation gets final, then the ruling and current main opposition People Power Party will have to return about 39.7 billion won ($27.1 million) in election expenses reimbursed by the national election commission.

Yoon was sentenced to life in prison in February for the insurrection stemming from his martial law declaration and 30 years in prison in June for the general treason relevant to the infiltration of drones into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of December 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.

He was indicted under detention in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of the insurrection, becoming the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted.

(With input from agencies)