The South Korean Independent Prosecutor's Office has added charges against former President Yoon Suk Yeol for perjury

South Korean prosecutors have once again filed charges against former President Yoon Suk Yeol on suspicion of perjury.

According to reports from Yonhap News Agency and Xinhua News Agency, the independent Prosecutor's unit in charge of investigating treason cases during the civil unrest in South Korea (the Independent Prosecutor's Unit) filed additional charges against Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday (December 4) for perjury. Assistant Prosecutor Park Ji-young of the Independent Prosecutor's Office said at a press conference on the same day that Yoon Suk-yeol is suspected of giving false testimony as a witness during the trial of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's alleged assistance to the leader of the internal strife in November.

It was reported that Yoon Suk Yeol said in that court hearing that he had planned to hold a State Council meeting to declare martial law before Han Duck-soo put forward relevant suggestions.

However, the Independent Prosecutor's Office believes that Yoon Suk Yeol initially had no intention of convening a State Council meeting, but it was decided to do so on the spot because Han Duck-soo proposed that "convening a State Council meeting is in line with the law." Therefore, the Independent Prosecutor's Office determined that Yoon Suk Yeol's relevant testimony was false.

Yoon Suk Yeol suddenly declared martial law on December 3rd last year, causing political unrest. As a result, he was impeached and removed from office. In July this year, the Independent Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against Yoon Suk Yeol on charges including abuse of power, infringement of the State Councilor's right to review, instructions to delete secret phone call records, and obstruction of the execution of an arrest warrant.

In November, the Independent Prosecutor's Office also filed additional charges against Yoon Suk Yeol on suspicion of general charges of benefiting the enemy and charges of abusing power to obstruct the exercise of power.