A Seoul court on Thursday sentenced former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment after convicting him of masterminding an attempted insurrection during his controversial 2024 martial law declaration.
In a landmark judgment delivered by Judge Ji Gwi-yeon at the Seoul Central District Court, the court ruled that Yoon’s actions were designed to paralyse the National Assembly and silence political opposition, triggering one of the gravest constitutional crises in the country’s modern democratic history.
“The declaration of martial law resulted in enormous social costs,” Judge Ji said while reading the verdict. “There is little indication the defendant has shown remorse.”
The court imposed life imprisonment — the maximum enforceable sentence under current law, as South Korea has maintained an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.
The political turmoil began on a December night in 2024, when Yoon appeared on national television to announce martial law, claiming that “anti-state forces” had infiltrated the legislature and were obstructing governance.
Within hours, troops were deployed toward the National Assembly complex in what prosecutors described as a clear attempt to suppress lawmakers and consolidate power. Legislators responded by convening an emergency session, barricading assembly doors with office furniture to prevent soldiers from entering.
The dramatic standoff sparked nationwide panic. Emergency protests erupted across major cities, financial markets plunged, and key allies — including the United States — were reportedly caught off guard.
Yoon, who had campaigned on restoring “order” as a hardline conservative, was swiftly impeached and later arrested. Prosecutors charged him with insurrection, obstruction of justice and multiple violations of constitutional authority.
READ ALSO: South Korea Court jails ex-First Lady Kim Keon Hee for bribery in landmark political case
Former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun was sentenced to 30 years in prison for mobilizing military units during the attempted power grab.
Yoon had previously received a separate five-year sentence on lesser charges, while several senior officials remain on trial.
His wife, Kim Keon Hee, was also sentenced in a separate case to 20 months in prison for accepting bribes during her tenure as first lady.
Outside the courthouse, thousands of Yoon’s supporters gathered, waving placards reading “Yoon Great Again” and demanding his acquittal. The arrival of a blue prison bus believed to be transporting the former president drew loud chants and emotional scenes.
Police deployed heavily around the court complex, lining buses nose-to-tail to form barricades and prevent unrest.
Yoon’s attempted seizure of power has revived painful memories of the military coups that destabilized South Korea from the 1960s through the 1980s — a period the country has long sought to leave behind as it built one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies.
Throughout the trial, Yoon maintained that his declaration of martial law was necessary to protect national freedom, accusing his political opponents of steering the country toward what he described as a “legislative dictatorship.”
Prosecutors rejected that defense, arguing the move was driven by “a lust for power aimed at dictatorship and long-term rule.” They had sought the death penalty, but the life sentence ensures the former president will likely spend the remainder of his life behind bars.