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

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.

LONDON -- South Korean prosecutors formally indicted President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday, charging him with insurrection over his brief imposition of martial law in December, according to opposition lawmakers and South Korean media.

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.

President Yoon Suk Yeol will stand trial along with his former defense minister and others who participated in his short-lived imposition of martial law.

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.