Yoon Suk Yeol

Following Marine Chae Su-geun's death during a search operation, Yoon was accused of exerting undue influence to weaken or obstruct the conclusions of a military investigation involving senior commanders. During his presidency, he also vetoed bills establishing a special prosecutor.

Attribution

Accused

Kim Keon Hee was filmed accepting a Dior bag in 2022. Yoon publicly apologised over the controversy in 2024. In June 2026, police referred Yoon to prosecutors, accusing him of failing to report to the competent authority a gift worth 5.4 million won which they believed he knew his wife had received.

Attribution

Directly implicated

In the principal criminal case concerning martial law, Yoon was found guilty in February 2026 of leading an insurrection and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court found that the use of the armed forces and police was intended to neutralise Parliament and impose martial law outside constitutional conditions.

Attribution

Accused

Yoon was prosecuted for using the presidential security service to prevent execution of an arrest warrant, as well as irregularities relating to a Cabinet meeting and a document created and then destroyed in an attempt to regularise martial law retrospectively.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Directly implicated

In June 2026, a Seoul court found that Yoon had ordered military drone incursions into North Korea in October 2024 to heighten tensions and create circumstances potentially justifying the subsequent declaration of martial law. He was sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment.

Attribution

Accused

The special prosecutor accused Yoon of appointing former Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup as ambassador to Australia to help him evade the investigation into Marine Chae's death. The prosecution sought five years' imprisonment.

Attribution

Accused

Course of the proceedings

1. Formally charged — Formal charge before the current outcome

Yoon was accused of receiving free opinion polls with his wife from political intermediary Myung Tae-kyun before the 2022 election, allegedly in exchange for helping secure a PPP candidate's nomination. In July 2026, the first-instance court found him partly guilty of violating political funding law and sentenced him to two years.

Attribution

Accused

Yoon was prosecuted over several campaign statements, notably denying that he had introduced a lawyer to a former tax official and stating that neither he nor his wife had met shaman Jeon Seong-bae. In July 2026, he received an eighteen-month prison sentence suspended for three years.

Attribution

Accused

In July 2026, police referred Yoon to prosecutors over a further alleged electoral law violation. They accused him of having stated during the 2022 campaign that Kim Keon Hee had not been involved in manipulation of Deutsch Motors' share price.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

In August 2026, a special prosecutor indicted Yoon for abuse of power, accusing him of instructing the National Security Council and Foreign Ministry to send messages justifying martial law to the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, European Union and other partners.

Attribution

Accused

In 2026, Yoon was involved in approximately eight criminal proceedings relating to martial law, political funding, allegations concerning his wife and the marine case. Outcomes varied considerably: one final seven-year sentence, several lengthy first-instance sentences under appeal, a recent acquittal and other trials still pending.

State of the evidence

Documented

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist is the victim

On 3 December 2024, Yoon declared martial law and military and police personnel were deployed around the National Assembly and other institutions. Parliament swiftly voted to lift the measure, and Yoon was subsequently impeached.

Attribution

Political responsibility

A video of Yoon in New York appeared to show the president using an obscenity and, according to MBC's transcript, referring to Biden and the US Congress. The affair triggered a major diplomatic and domestic controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Yoon government decided to substantially increase medical school admissions, initially by 2,000 places annually, to address population ageing and areas with inadequate medical provision. Thousands of junior doctors left their posts, causing a prolonged crisis.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Yoon repeatedly vetoed bills seeking to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate his wife, notably over Deutsch Motors, gifts and other suspicions. His opponents condemned what they saw as a conflict of interest.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

In 2020, the Justice Ministry imposed a two-month suspension on Yoon, then Prosecutor General, for several alleged breaches, notably concerning political neutrality and the handling of sensitive investigations. A court initially upheld most of the sanction.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Following the hot-mic dispute, the presidency barred MBC journalists from travelling on the presidential aircraft for an overseas visit, citing repeated reports it considered distorted and damaging to national interests.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

Attribution

Political responsibility

The Yoon government proposed that a South Korean foundation compensate victims of forced labour during the Japanese occupation, mainly through Korean contributions, to restore relations with Tokyo. Several victims and the opposition condemned it as diplomatic capitulation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Yoon made abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family one of his most controversial campaign promises, supported by some young men but condemned by feminists and the opposition as an electoral strategy exploiting gender tensions.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Before his inauguration, Yoon decided not to work from the traditional Blue House and to relocate the presidential office to the Defence Ministry complex in Yongsan. The cost, urgency of the timetable and risks of a security gap prompted considerable controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Criticising the 52-hour working week, Yoon relayed the wishes of young entrepreneurs to be able to work intensively for up to approximately 120 hours in one week on certain projects, then rest afterwards. Trade unions and opponents accused him of promoting an anti-worker and dangerous model.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

During the presidential campaign, several entries in Kim Keon Hee's CVs and job applications were challenged as exaggerated or inaccurate. Yoon apologised, acknowledging that the controversy was inconsistent with the standards of justice and common sense he claimed to uphold.

State of the evidence

Documented

As a prosecutor, Yoon led a team investigating alleged National Intelligence Service interference in the 2012 presidential election and told Parliament that his superiors had exerted pressure to obstruct the investigation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Command responsibility