On the 25th local time, the Seoul Central District Court of South Korea ruled on a case involving 104 citizens of South Korea who suffered mental harm due to the emergency martial law initiated by former President Yoon Suk-yeol. The court found that Yoon Suk-yeol had civil liability for compensation.
The court ordered Yoon Suk-yeol to pay each plaintiff 100,000 Korean won (approximately 518 Chinese Yuan) in compensation, totaling 10.4 million Korean won (approximately 53,900 Chinese Yuan). This marks the first instance of such a ruling by a South Korean court.
The court stated that the emergency martial law caused the plaintiffs fear, anxiety, frustration, and shame. Yoon Suk-yeol must compensate them. (CCTV News, Tang Xin)
On December 3 last year, then-President Yoon Suk-yeol issued an emergency martial law order. On December 14th of the same month, the South Korean National Assembly passed a motion to impeach Yoon Suk-yeol, leading to his suspension of presidential powers. On January 15th this year, Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested for the first time, becoming the first current president in South Korean constitutional history to be arrested. On March 8th, Yoon Suk-yeol was released. On April 4th, the Constitutional Court of South Korea announced its decision to impeach Yoon Suk-yeol, removing him from office as president.
On July 10th, the Seoul Central District Court issued a detention warrant under the pretext of “concern over (suspect) destroying evidence,” resulting in Yoon Suk-yeol’s second arrest. The main charges involved his obstruction of special duties and abuse of power related to internal disturbances. After being detained, the Special Prosecution Team repeatedly summoned Yoon Suk-yeol for investigation, but he did not appear.