South Korea’s President Yoon has been charged under martial law, according to reports.

South Korean prosecutors filed charges on Sunday President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office News reports have reported a felony charge that could lead to death or life in prison if convicted of rebelling against the brief imposition of martial law.

This was on December 3, 2007. It is the latest blow to Yoon who has been charged and arrested. Provision of martial law South Korea’s politics and financial markets, as well as the country’s international image, plunged the country into deep political turmoil. Separate from the criminal proceedings, the Constitutional Court is investigating whether to officially dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate him.

South Korean media, including the Yonhap news agency, reported that the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office had charged Yoon with sedition. Calls to the prosecutor’s office and Yoon’s attorneys were not returned.

Yoon, a conservative, has insisted he has done nothing wrong, calling martial law a legitimate administrative act to raise public awareness of the dangers of the liberal-controlled National Assembly, which has blocked his agenda and impeached senior officials. As Yun declared martial law, he called the summit a “den of criminals” and vowed to destroy “shameful North Korean followers and anti-national forces.”

After declaring martial law on December 3, Yoon sent the military and police officers to the meeting, but enough lawmakers still entered the chamber to unanimously vote down the UN resolution, forcing him to dismiss the cabinet.

The martial law order, the first of its kind in South Korea in more than 40 years, lasted just six hours. However, in the 1960s-80s, military-backed regimes used martial law and emergency declarations to suppress dissent, bringing back painful memories of past dictatorships.

South Korea’s constitution gives the president the power to declare martial law in times of war and other similar emergencies, but many experts say the country was not in such a situation when Yun declared martial law.

Yun said he did not intend to disrupt the meeting, including the vote on the resolution, and that the deployment of military and police forces was to maintain peace. But military unit commanders sent to the assembly told the assembly’s hearings or investigators that Yonu had ordered them to pull the lawmakers.

The investigation into Yun has deepened the country’s already bitter internal divisions, with rival opposition groups regularly rallying in downtown Seoul.

After a local court approved a formal arrest warrant to extend Yeon’s detention on January 19, dozens of his supporters stormed the courthouse, destroying windows, doors and other property. They also attacked police personnel with bricks, metal pipes and other objects. 17 police officers were injured in the riots, and the police said they arrested 46 protesters.

Yun has previously resisted efforts by investigative authorities to question or arrest him. He was then arrested on January 15 in a massive law enforcement operation at the presidential compound.

The High Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau was leading Yon’s investigation, but it declined to participate in the CIO’s inquiry, saying it lacked the legal authority to investigate allegations of corruption since Yon was arrested. The CIO said that he could investigate Yoon’s case of rebellion as it was related to abuse of power and other charges.

Yon enjoys presidential immunity from most criminal charges, but the exception does not extend to sedition or treason charges.

The CIO handed Yeon’s case over to the Seoul Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, requesting that he be charged with sedition, abuse of power and obstruction of the National Assembly. Under South Korean law, a leader of a rebellion can be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty.

In a statement Saturday, Yoon’s defense team urged prosecutors to immediately release Yoon and begin an investigation into the CIO.

Yon’s defense minister, police chief and several other military commanders have already been jailed for their roles in martial law.