Yoon Suk Yeol, the incarcerated former president, was sentenced to seven years for obstructing justice by a South Korean appeals court on Wednesday, up from five years.
Yoon was first sentenced in January by a lower court after it was discovered that he had employed presidential security personnel to evade his own arrest.
Both Yoon and the prosecution filed appeals; Yoon claimed that the arrest warrants against him were the result of a “unlawful investigation,” while special prosecutors claimed that his “egregious” actions warranted a 10-year sentence.
“The court sentences the defendant to seven years in prison,” a judge at the Seoul High Court said on Wednesday.
He added in his verdict that the motives for and consequences of Yoon’s actions were “highly reprehensible”.
“The defendant not only sought to obstruct the lawful execution of warrants by prosecutors and others,” he said.
“(He) also issued unlawful instructions to public officials of the presidential security service, who are national civil servants, attempting to use them as if they were private guards for his personal protection.”
Yoon, who appeared in court wearing a black suit and white shirt, showed little emotion as he listened to the verdict.
He is also serving a life sentence for the much more serious crime of leading an insurrection, a result of his failed attempt to impose martial law in late 2024.
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