A court on Feb. 19 found former South Korean President Yoon Sook Yeol guilty on charges of abuse of authority and orchestrating an insurrection in relation to his failed attempt at imposing martial law in December 2024.
Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon, 65, to life imprisonment. He is likely to stay at the Seoul Detention Center, the prison where he has been detained.
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.
Seven other defendants, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former top police officials, were also sentenced alongside him.
Judge Jee Kui-youn told the courtroom that Yoon had conspired with Kim 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.
Yoon denied the charges.
The former president had attempted to impose martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, but backed down after six hours amid public protest and after the National Assembly voted to overturn the decree. Yoon said at the time that he was seeking to protect the constitution because the opposition, which controlled the National Assembly, 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.
Lawyers for Yoon said they would discuss with him whether to appeal the ruling.
Kim received 30 years in prison. A lawyer for the former defense minister said his client would “of course appeal.”
Other Trials and Convictions
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. Other officials have also been convicted and sentenced in recent weeks in relation to the martial law decree.
On Jan. 21, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was sentenced to 23 years in prison for insurrection.
The Seoul Central District Court said Han was guilty of “engaging in [the] key action of insurrection,” falsifying the martial law proclamation and destroying it, and committing perjury.
Han, 76, denied wrongdoing on all charges, except perjury.
On Feb. 12, the same court sentenced former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to seven years in prison for relaying orders to the police and fire services to cut water and power to media outlets critical of the president’s policies.
Lee, 61, was also found guilty of perjury by denying that he had taken these actions during Yoon’s impeachment proceedings. He maintained his innocence.
Last month, former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon-hee, Yoon’s wife, was also convicted and sentenced to time in prison for charges unrelated to her husband’s trials.
On Jan. 28, Kim Keon-hee was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for corruption.
The Seoul Central District Court found her guilty of receiving luxury gifts, including a Chanel bag and a Graff diamond necklace, from the Unification Church in exchange for promises of political favors.
The former first lady said via her legal team that she would “humbly accept” the court’s view and apologized to “everyone for causing concerns.”
Her lawyer said that the 20-month prison term was “relatively high” and that his team would be discussing whether to appeal the decision.
Investigators have said that the former first lady was not involved in Yoon’s martial law decree.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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