S Korea’s ousted Prez faces more charges

South Korea’s ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on Saturday on additional criminal charges related to his ill-fated imposition of martial law, about three months after he was formally thrown out of office.

Yoon’s additional indictments mean he will remain in jail for up to six months as he faces a trial at the Seoul Central District Court on his December 3 martial law declaration that plunged South Korea into huge political turmoil.

Yoon was sent back to prison last week after the Seoul court approved his arrest warrant requested by a team of investigators headed by independent counsel Cho Eun-suk.

Cho’s team indicted Yoon on abuse of power that obstructed the rights of some of his Cabinet members. The charge was imposed because Yoon summoned only select Cabinet members to approve his emergency martial law when South Korean law requires approval of all Cabinet members for such a measure, Park Ji-young, a senior investigator at Cho’s team, told a briefing.

Park said Yoon was also charged with fabricating an official document in an attempt to satisfy a formal requirement for a martial law declaration before he eventually destroyed it.

State prosecutors have already indicted Yoon on other criminal charges including masterminding a rebellion, a grave charge whose conviction carries only two sentences — capital punishment or life imprisonment.