Former South Korean president sentenced to life in prison for leading insurrection
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The news: Former president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, has escaped the death penalty after being sentenced to life in prison for insurrection, over his failed efforts to impose martial law in late 2024.
The context: A three-judge panel at Seoul Central District Court found that Yoon was guilty of leading an insurrection in late 2024 that attempted to subvert the constitution.
“Yoon’s imposition of emergency martial law damaged the constitutional order by mobilising military forces in an attempt to blockade the National Assembly,” the court said.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Yoon on the grounds that the former leader posed a grave threat to the country’s constitutional order.
On 3 December 2024, Yoon appeared on South Korean television broadcasts to warn that anti-state, pro-North Korea forces were attempting to take control of the nation and declared emergency rule to protect the constitutional order of the country.
The move triggered widespread protests, with lawmakers having to scale barriers to the National Assembly to vote to reject Yoon’s martial law order. The increasing pressure on Yoon saw him rescind the order around six hours after he had issued it.
Within two weeks Yoon was impeached and removed from Korea’s Constitutional Court in 2025.
The judges rules that Yoon deployed troops to the National Assembly in order to block lawmakers and arrests his political rivals, that he has shown no remorse for his actions and that his actions severely damaged the political neutrality of the military and police.
Yoon’s lawyers said Thursday’s ruling was politically motivated and have vowed to “fight until the end.” Yoon is able to appeal the verdict, with the country’s judicial system allowing criminal cases to be tried three times.
