Yoon Acquitted in Marine Drowning Case, a Rare Legal Reprieve

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was acquitted Friday in a case related to the drowning death of a marine, marking a rare legal reprieve among the multiple criminal proceedings he faces after being removed from office for imposing martial law.

The independent counsel had alleged that Yoon deliberately appointed former Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup as ambassador to Australia to help him leave the country and avoid a criminal investigation into the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who drowned in 2023 during a search-and-rescue operation for flood victims.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that it was unclear whether Yoon's appointment was intended to disrupt the investigation. Yoon maintained that he appointed Lee to promote military cooperation with Canberra. His lawyers welcomed the verdict and urged prosecutors not to appeal.

Other defendants, including Yoon's former justice minister and presidential security director, were also acquitted of charges that they colluded with Yoon to help Lee sidestep the investigation. Prosecutors did not immediately indicate whether they would appeal.

A separate indictment accuses Yoon and other officials of attempting to cover up and manipulate the investigation into Chae's death. The case sparked public outrage after it emerged that military commanders had ordered soldiers to conduct search operations without life vests and other safety equipment.

An early marine corps investigation held a division commander and seven others responsible for Chae's death. According to prosecutors, Yoon expressed fury over the commander's inclusion, prompting senior presidential and Defense Ministry officials to pressure the marine corps to revise the report to exclude the commander.

Prosecutors said the then-head of the marines' investigation team, Park Jung-hun, defied the pressure and sent the report to police. Yoon subsequently ordered officials to retrieve the report from police and dismiss Park, who was investigated for insubordination.

Yoon was formally removed from office in April 2025 and has faced multiple criminal trials after President Lee Jae Myung approved special investigations into his martial law imposition and several other matters, including Chae's death. He has appealed his conviction and life sentence for rebellion, the most serious charge stemming from his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.

Yoon's martial law decree lasted only hours after a quorum of lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and voted to revoke the measure, forcing his Cabinet to lift it.