More than ten-thousand citizens have filed a lawsuit against former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, seeking compensation for the mental suffering they experienced when Yoon put the country under martial law in December. 

Kim Kyeong-ho, a lawyer from the law firm Hoin, said he filed the suit with the Seoul Central District Court on Monday morning on behalf of eleven-thousand citizens seeking 100-thousand won, or 72 U.S. dollars, per person.

The lawyer said in the complaint that Yoon’s martial law action was a deliberate, illegal infringement on the people’s fundamental rights that went beyond mere dereliction of duty, arguing that he must be held liable.

The complaint asserted that Kim was a co-perpetrator, having provided the core motivation for the martial law decree and actively participated in its execution.

It added that martial law was declared solely to avoid judicial pressure on Kim, to block the passage of a bill requiring a special counsel investigation into allegations against her.

Last month the same court ruled in favor of 104 citizens who sued Yoon, ordering him to pay 100-thousand won per person for the mental distress he caused by declaring martial law.