Ex-South Korean President Yoon Defends Martial Law Decision, Apologizes for Suffering It Caused

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Feb. 20 defended his decision to declare martial law in December 2024, a day after a Seoul court sentenced him to life in prison for insurrection.

In a statement released by his lawyers and published by South Korean daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo, Yoon said that he apologized for the “frustration and hardships” caused to the people, but maintained that his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, “was solely for the benefit of the nation and its people.”

“That sincerity and purpose remain unchanged,” Yoon said.

Seoul Central District Court on Feb. 19 found the former president guilty on charges of abuse of authority and orchestrating an insurrection, sentencing him to life imprisonment.

Judge Jee Kui-youn told the courtroom on Feb. 19 that Yoon had conspired with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to subvert the country’s constitution by deploying troops to the National Assembly to halt its parliamentary activities.

“It is the court’s judgment that sending armed troops to parliament … and using equipment to try to make arrests all constitute acts of insurrection,” Jee said, speaking for the panel of three judges.

In his Feb. 20 statement, Yoon rejected the verdict as illegitimate, calling it political retaliation.

“Those who seek to smear my resolve to save the nation as a ‘rebellion’ and use it as an opportunity to purge and eliminate the opposition, beyond political attacks, will only grow more assertive,” he said.

“I deeply apologize to the people for the frustration and hardships I have caused them, due to my own shortcomings, despite my resolve to save the nation.”

Martial Law

Yoon’s attempted martial law decree was reversed after six hours, when the National Assembly voted to overturn it. He said at the time that he was seeking to protect the constitution because the opposition, which controlled the parliament, was sympathetic to communists and North Korea.

Yoon had previously told the court that it was within his presidential powers to call for a state of emergency and that doing so could not constitute an insurrection.

The crime of insurrection carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, a sentence that has not been carried out in South Korea since 1997, following the introduction of a moratorium on capital punishment in 1998.

Yoon faces eight trials in total for various criminal charges related to the martial law declaration.

The former president has already been convicted of mobilizing the presidential security service to prevent authorities from detaining him, fabricating official documents, and failing to follow the legal process required for declaring martial law. The conviction resulted in a five-year prison sentence.

Yoon is appealing that conviction and maintains his innocence in all cases.

Lawyers for Yoon said they would discuss with him whether to appeal the ruling on the latest verdict.