SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday after being found guilty of leading an insurrection through his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024, a decision that concludes one of the country’s most turbulent political crises in decades.
Judge Jee Kui-youn of the Seoul Central District Court ruled that Yoon, 65, committed rebellion by mobilizing military and police forces in an unlawful attempt to seize control of the National Assembly of South Korea, arrest political opponents and consolidate unchecked power for an indefinite period.
The court found that Yoon’s order to deploy troops to surround the Assembly building on Dec. 3, 2024, was central to its determination that the declaration of martial law amounted to insurrection.
“This court finds that the purpose of (Yoon’s) actions was to send troops to the National Assembly, block the Assembly building and arrest key figures… in order to prevent lawmakers from gathering to deliberate or vote,” Jee said. “It’s sufficiently established that he intended to obstruct or paralyze the Assembly’s activities so that it would be unable to properly perform its functions for a considerable period of time.”
Yoon’s decree — the first declaration of martial law in South Korea in more than four decades — granted sweeping powers, including suspending political activities, restricting media operations and authorizing arrests without warrants. The measure lasted about six hours before lawmakers, breaking through a military blockade, convened and unanimously voted to lift it.
The conservative leader was impeached on Dec. 14, 2024, and formally removed from office by the Constitutional Court of Korea in April 2025. He has remained under arrest since July while facing multiple criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe penalty.
In court, an expressionless Yoon listened as the life sentence was delivered in the same courtroom where former presidents and military rulers have previously been convicted of treason and corruption.
Yoon’s legal team criticized the ruling. Lawyer Yoon Kap-keun described it as a “predetermined verdict” based solely on the prosecution’s arguments and said the defense would consider filing an appeal.
During the trial, Yoon argued that the martial law decree was intended to raise public awareness about what he described as legislative paralysis by liberal opponents, and that he would have respected lawmakers’ decision had they voted against it. Prosecutors countered that his actions clearly sought to disable the legislature and exceeded constitutional authority.
The court also convicted five former military and police officials involved in implementing the decree. Among them was former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year prison term for planning the operation and directing military counterintelligence officers to arrest 14 political figures, including National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik and current President Lee Jae Myung.
Outside the courthouse, hundreds of police officers monitored gatherings of both Yoon supporters and critics. While some demonstrators demanded the death penalty, no major clashes were immediately reported.
A special prosecutor had sought capital punishment, arguing that Yoon’s actions posed a grave threat to South Korea’s democracy. However, analysts widely anticipated a life sentence, noting that the failed power grab did not result in casualties. South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997.
Political leaders reacted swiftly. Jung Chung-rae of the liberal Democratic Party said the ruling reflected a “lack of a sense of justice” for not imposing the death penalty. Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the conservative People Power Party, publicly apologized, acknowledging the party’s “deep sense of responsibility” for the national disruption.
Last month, Yoon was separately sentenced to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and bypassing a legally required Cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.
Yoon is the first former South Korean president to receive a life sentence since former military ruler Chun Doo-hwan, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for his role in the 1979 coup and the 1980 Gwangju crackdown before his punishment was commuted to life imprisonment. He was later pardoned and died in 2021.
The ruling marks a historic chapter in South Korea’s democratic journey, underscoring the judiciary’s role in addressing abuses of executive power.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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