Seoul: Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for his brief imposition of martial law in a dramatic culmination to the country’s biggest political crisis in decades in 2024, as reported by timesnow.in.
Yoon had attempted to overcome an opposition-controlled legislature by declaring martial law and sending troops to surround the legislature on December 3, 2024.
The former president was found guilty by Judge Jee Kui-youn. He said that 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, but most analysts has expected a life sentence since the poorly-planned power grab did not result in casualties.
Yoon has the option to appeal the verdict.
South Korea 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.
Hundreds of policemen kept watch as Yoon arrived in court. Hi
s supporters rallied outside the judicial complex, their cries rising as the prison bus transporting him drove past. Yoon’s critics had also gathered nearby, demanding the death penalty.
Several former military and police officials involved in enforcing Yoon’s martial law decree, including ex-defense minister Kim Yong Hyun, were sentenced by the court. Hyun received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure and mobilizing the military.
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 quorum of lawmakers managed to break through a military blockade and unanimously voted to lift the measure.
Yoon was suspended from office on December 14, 2024, after being impeached by lawmakers and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He has been under arrest since last July while facing multiple criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe punishment.
Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison last year for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.
Two of Yoon’s cabinet members were also convicted by the Seoul Central Court. They include former prime minister Han Duck-soo, who received a 23-year prison sentence for attempting to legitimize the decree by forcing it through a cabinet council meeting, falsifying records and lying under oath. Han has appealed the verdict.