Published on
South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to life in prison after a court found him guilty of masterminding an insurrection by his brief imposition of martial law in 2024.
Yoon fell from office after attempting to overcome an opposition-controlled legislature by declaring martial law on 3 December, 2024, and sending troops to surround the legislature.
On Thursday, Judge Jee Kui-youn said he found Yoon guilty of rebellion for mobilising military and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the liberal-led National Assembly, arrest politicians and establish unchecked power for a “considerable” time.
A special prosecutor had demanded the death penalty for Yoon, saying his actions posed a threat to the country’s democracy and deserved the most serious punishment available.
Seoul has not executed a death row inmate since 1997, in what is widely seen as a de facto moratorium on capital punishment amid calls for its abolition.
As Yoon arrived in court, hundreds of police officers watched closely as Yoon supporters rallied outside a judicial complex, their cries rising as the prison bus transporting him drove past. Yoon’s critics gathered nearby, demanding the death penalty.
The court also convicted and sentenced several former military and police officials involved in enforcing Yoon’s martial law decree, including ex-Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure and mobilising forces.
Yoon, a staunch conservative, has defended his martial law decree as necessary to stop liberals, whom he described as “anti-state” forces, from obstructing his agenda with their legislative majority.
The decree lasted about six hours before being lifted after a number of lawmakers managed to break through a military blockade and unanimously voted to lift the measure.
Yoon was suspended from office on 14 December, 2024, after being impeached by lawmakers and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025 in a unanimous 8-0 vote, kickstarting his legal woes.
He has been under arrest since last July while facing multiple criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe punishment.
Last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.
The South Korean ex-President is expected to appeal the verdict, though analysts believe the sentence is not likely to change.
Additional sources • AP