President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's first leader to face indictment, has plunged the nation into political turmoil. Facing rebellion charges alongside his detained defense team, Yoon's martial law decree has split the populace.

Yonhap news agency says South Korean prosecutors have indicted the impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his imposition of martial law.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's term in office has been dogged by personal scandals, an unyielding opposition and rifts within his own party, and a rapid fall from grace over his short-lived declaration of martial law last month.

The jailed president Yoon Suk Yeol, who had been holed up in his presidential compound for weeks after issuing a martial law decree last month, now faces rebellion charges punishable by the death penalty or life in prison.

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been charged with insurrection after he attempted to declare martial law in December. His ill-fated attempt to impose military rule plunged the country into an unprecedented political crisis and he becomes the first sitting president in South Korean history to be charged with a crime.