Seoul: Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a seven-year prison sentence for former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae in an appeal trial after a district court found him not guilty last year on multiple charges mostly related to his alleged abuse of judiciary power. They also requested imprisonment of four to five years for former Supreme Court justices Ko Young-han and Park Byong-dae, who were also acquitted of abuse of power charges along with Yang, during the same appeal trial at the Seoul High Court.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Yang, who headed the top court from 2011-17, was indicted for having used trials as bargaining chips in dealings with the then Park Geun-hye administration to promote his bid to establish a court of appeals. He was also accused of intervening in politically sensitive trials and compiling a so-called blacklist of some judges. Park Byong-dae and Ko were also indicted in the same case. In January 2024, however, the Seoul Central District Court acquitted the three of all charges raised by the prosecution.

The prosecutors said the district court's acquittals of Yang, Ko and Park were "erroneous" because the relevant facts were "fragmented and isolated" before being legally evaluated. They also noted the court's own investigation had previously viewed many of the acts related to the blacklist case as an abuse of judicial power.

In his final statement, Yang said the prosecution's appeal should be dismissed, accusing prosecutors of having distorted and exaggerated the truth to achieve their goal.