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South Korean court sentences ex-President Yoon to life for insurrection over martial law bid

By The South Asia Times

SEOUL - A court in Seoul on Thursday sentenced former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to his short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Yoon acted as the “ringleader of an insurrection” when he ordered the imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024 -- a move that lasted roughly six hours before being overturned. The verdict was delivered in a nationally televised hearing attended by Yoon.

According to the court, Yoon attempted to paralyze the National Assembly by deploying troops to the parliamentary compound in a bid to prevent lawmakers from voting down his decree. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing that the attempt posed a grave threat to constitutional order.

In the same case, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while former intelligence commander Noh Sang-won received an 18-year term for their roles in the failed declaration.

Yoon was indicted in January 2025, becoming the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested and charged with insurrection. He was briefly released in March, rearrested in July, and has remained in detention since.

In a separate case last month, he was sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing investigators’ attempt to detain him. Altogether, Yoon faces seven trials tied to the martial law episode, alleged corruption involving his wife, and the 2023 death of a Marine officer.

Yoon has consistently denied the charges. In his final statement to the court, he argued that invoking emergency powers falls within the constitutional authority of the presidency and cannot constitute insurrection. He described his actions not as an attempt to establish military rule, but as a temporary measure aimed at “safeguarding freedom and sovereignty” and restoring constitutional order.

The verdict is expected to have far-reaching implications for South Korea’s political landscape and the interpretation of presidential emergency powers in one of Asia’s leading democracies.