海角大神

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

Mr. Yoon鈥檚 additional indictments mean he will remain in jail for up to six months as he聽faces a trial聽at the Seoul Central District Court on his Dec. 3 martial law declaration that plunged South Korea into huge political turmoil. Mr. Yoon was sent back to prison聽last week after the Seoul court聽approved his arrest warrant聽requested by a team of investigators headed by independent counsel Cho Eun-suk.

Mr. Cho鈥檚 team indicted Mr. Yoon on abuse of power that obstructed the rights of some of his Cabinet members. The charge was imposed because Mr. 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 Mr. Cho鈥檚 team, told a briefing.

Mr. Park said Mr. 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 Mr. Yoon on other criminal charges including聽masterminding a rebellion,聽a grave charge whose conviction carries only two sentences 鈥� capital punishment or life imprisonment.

After declaring martial law, Mr. Yoon sent troops and police officers to the opposition-controlled National Assembly, but enough lawmakers managed to enter an assembly chamber and voted down his decree, forcing his Cabinet to lift it. Mr. Yoon was later impeached by the assembly, with some of his ruling party lawmakers also voting to suspend his presidential powers.

Mr. Yoon has argued聽his decree was a desperate attempt to draw public support of his fight against the 鈥渨ickedness鈥� of the main liberal opposition聽Democratic Party, which had obstructed his agenda, impeached top officials and slashed the government鈥檚 budget bill. He earlier called the National Assembly 鈥渁 den of criminals鈥� and 鈥渁nti-state forces.鈥�

In January, Mr. Yoon was arrested by state prosecutors. But in March, he聽was released聽from prison after a judge at the Seoul district court canceled his arrest to allow him to stand trial without being held in custody.

In April, the Constitutional Court formally dismissed Mr. Yoon as president, prompting a snap election to choose his successor. After winning that election, new President聽Lee Jae Myung,聽a former Democratic Party leader, approved legislation to launch聽independent investigations聽to uncover fuller details of Mr. Yoon's martial law stunt and delve into other criminal allegations involving his wife and administration. Mr. Lee named Mr. Cho an independent counsel to lead an investigation on Mr. Yoon's martial law decree.

In May, state prosecutors indicted Mr. Yoon on charges of abusing power and forcing soldiers and police officers to try to seal the assembly and election offices, acts that are not part of their duties.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.