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South Korea‘s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol will receive a salary hike despite the ongoing investigation for placing his country under martial law last year.
Mr Yoon’s salary for 2025 will increase by 3 per cent to 262.6m won (£147,000) from 254.9m won (£142,599) last year, the government said.
The president received a hike in line with the salary increase for all government officials in the country.
Mr Yoon continues to draw a steep salary despite being suspended from office. He will now earn 21.8m won (£12,195) per month.
South Korean presidents are entitled to 95 per cent of their salary for the rest of their lives after leaving office, the Korea Herald reported.
Mr Yoon was suspended from his duties on 14 December 2024 after being impeached over the shortlived martial law declaration earlier that month. The Constitutional Court is preparing to rule on the validity of his impeachment by the National Assembly. If it clears the parliamentary decision, Mr Yoon will be removed from office.
The martial law decree, the country’s first in 40 years, ended after just six hours when the National Assembly voted to withdraw it, despite attempts by armed soldiers to prevent lawmakers from assembling.
Mr Yoon is facing a separate investigation for alleged insurrection and abuse of power. The impeached president has so far evaded arrest despite investigators securing two warrants for his detention.
The investigators said on Monday they had requested cooperation from the presidential security service and the defence ministry in executing an arrest warrant for Mr Yoon.
His lawyer said last week Mr Yoon would abide by the Constitutional Court’s ruling on his impeachment even if it meant an end to his presidency. “So if the decision is ‘removal’, it cannot but be accepted,” the lawyer told a news conference.
Mr Yoon ignored the Constitutional Court’s request to file his legal briefs before hearings began on 27 December. His lawyers said he was willing to appear in person to argue his case.
Seok Dong Hyeon, another lawyer for Mr Yoon, said the suspended president saw attempts to arrest him as politically motivated and aimed at humiliating him in public.
Han Duck Soo, who briefly served as acting president before being impeached himself, too will see his salary rise by 3 per cent to 204m won (£114,000).
