South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol indicted for insurrection

South Korean prosecutors have indicted impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol on charges of leading an insurrection with his short-lived imposition of martial law, the main opposition party says.

The charges are unprecedented for a South Korean president, and if convicted, Mr Yoon could face years in prison for his shock martial law decree, which sought to ban political and parliamentary activity and control the media.

His move set off a wave of political upheaval in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, with the prime minister also impeached and suspended from power and top military officials indicted for their roles in the alleged insurrection.

The prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The indictment was also reported by South Korean media on Sunday.

Anti-corruption investigators last week recommended charging the jailed Mr Yoon, who was impeached by parliament and suspended from his duties on December 14.

A former top prosecutor himself, Mr Yoon has been in solitary confinement since becoming the first sitting president to be arrested on January 15 after days of defiant, armed stand-off between his security detail and arresting officials.

A court twice refused prosecutors’ requests to extend his detention at the weekend while they conducted further investigation.

The prosecutors have again requested that he be kept in custody following the charges, media reports said.

Mr Yoon’s lawyers had urged the prosecutors to release him immediately from what they called illegal custody.

Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity.

It is punishable by life imprisonment or death, although top US ally South Korea has not executed anyone in decades.

“The prosecution has decided to indict Yoon Suk-yeol, who is facing charges of being a ringleader of insurrection,” Democratic Party spokesman Han Min-soo told reporters on Sunday.

“The punishment of the ringleader of insurrection now begins finally.”

Mr Yoon and his lawyers argued at a Constitutional Court hearing last week in his impeachment trial that he never intended to fully impose martial law but had only meant the measures as a warning to break a political deadlock.

In parallel with his criminal process, the top court will determine whether to remove Mr Yoon from office or reinstate his presidential powers and has 180 days to decide.

South Korea’s opposition-led parliament impeached Mr Yoon on December 14, making him the country’s second conservative president to be impeached.

Mr Yoon rescinded his martial law after about six hours when lawmakers, confronting soldiers in parliament, voted down the decree.

Soldiers equipped with rifles, body armour and night-vision equipment, were seen entering the parliament building through smashed windows during the dramatic confrontation.

If Mr Yoon is removed from office, a presidential election would be held within 60 days.