Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been indicted on charges of abuse of authority, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, as per Al Jazeera.
This indictment, issued on Thursday, adds to the legal challenges facing Yoon, who is already undergoing a trial on insurrection charges.
The insurrection charges stem from Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law last December, during which armed soldiers were deployed to parliament. The order was quickly overturned by opposition MPs. Yoon was subsequently impeached by parliamentarians and stripped of his power and privileges in April by the Constitutional Court, which upheld the impeachment motion.
Prosecutors initially indicted Yoon in January on the insurrection charge, alleging he was “the ringleader.” This new abuse of authority charge comes shortly after investigators raided Yoon’s private residence in Seoul as part of an investigation into bribery allegations involving his wife, Kim Keon-hee, and a shaman accused of receiving gifts on behalf of the former first lady.
The potential penalties for the insurrection charge are severe, including life imprisonment or the death penalty, although South Korea has maintained an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.
Yoon Suk-yeol is the second South Korean president to be removed from office and the third to be impeached by parliament.
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