S Korea investigators recommend Yoon be charged with insurrection, abuse of power

SEOUL: South Korean investigators recommended on Thursday that impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol be charged with insurrection and abuse of power, as they handed prosecutors the results of their probe into his ill-fated declaration of martial law.

Yoon should be charged with “leading an insurrection and abuse of power”, the Corruption Investigation Office said after a 51-day probe into his December 3 attempt to suspend civilian rule.

The CIO said it had asked Seoul prosecutors to “file charges against the sitting President, Yoon Suk Yeol” accusing him of conspiring with his former defence minister and other military commanders to “disrupt the constitutional order.”

The leader, currently suspended from duties, “declared martial law with the intent to exclude state authority or disrupt the constitutional order, thereby inciting riots”. Under the South Korean legal system, his case file -- identified as “Yoon Suk Yeol: president” -- will now be handed to prosecutors, who have 11 days to decide whether to charge him, which would lead to a criminal trial.

Yoon was arrested in a dawn raid last week on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal probe. South Korea was plunged into political chaos by his botched martial law declaration, which lasted just six hours before lawmakers voted it down. They later impeached him, stripping him of his duties.

Since his arrest, Yoon -- who remains head of state -- has refused to be questioned in the criminal probe and “consistently maintained an uncooperative stance,” Lee Jae-seung, deputy CIO chief, told reporters.

Yoon´s security detail also “obstructed searches and seizures, including access to secure communication devices like classified phones,” Lee said. As a result, investigators have decided it would be “more efficient” for prosecutors to handle the case.