Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been charged with insurrection after attempting to declare martial law in December.
His ill-fated attempt to impose military rule plunged the country into an unprecedented political crisis and he became the first president in South Korean history to be charged with a crime.
The indictment comes after a court in Seoul rejected a request to extend Yoon's detention on Saturday, which meant prosecutors had to make a decision on whether to charge him or release him by Monday.
“The punishment of the uprising leader now finally begins,” Han Min-Soo, a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic party, told a news conference.
Separately, the Constitutional Court has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove Yoon as president or reinstate him.
The impeached president has largely refused to cooperate with the criminal investigation into the declaration of martial law.
Yoon is set to stand trial alongside his former defense minister and senior military commanders, accused of helping him plan and carry out the attempt to seize total power.
In an unprecedented televised announcement on December 3, Yoon said he was invoking martial law to protect the country from “anti-state” forces sympathetic to North Korea.
At the time, the leader in a bunch was deadlocked over a budget bill, dogged by corruption scandals and several of his cabinet ministers were under investigation.
The army announced that all parliamentary activity was suspended and sought to impose controls on the media.
Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-Myung urged people to protest at the National Assembly and called on his fellow lawmakers to immediately vote to repeal the order.
Less than two hours after Yoon's statement, 190 lawmakers who met, including some from the president's party, voted unanimously to block him.
Soldiers equipped with rifles were seen entering the Parliament building through shattered windows as a dramatic confrontation took place.
Thousands of civilians gathered in front of the assembly and tried to block the soldiers.
Yoon was impeached by Parliament and suspended from duties on December 14.
The issue has sparked South Korea's worst political crisis in decades and polarized the country.
(BBC)
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