Ex-South Korean president Yoon receives life sentence for imposing martial law

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.

Judge Jee Kui-youn said 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.

Yoon is likely to appeal against the verdict.

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 expect a life sentence since the poorly planned power grab did not result in casualties.

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.

As Yoon arrived in court, hundreds of police officers watched closely as Yoon supporters rallied outside a judicial complex, their cries rising as the prison bus transporting him drove past.

Yoon’s critics gathered nearby, demanding the death penalty.

The court also convicted and sentenced several former military and police officials involved in enforcing Yoon’s martial law decree, including ex-defence minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure and mobilising 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 legislators 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 legislators 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.

Last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.

The Seoul Central Court has also convicted two of Yoon’s cabinet members in other cases.

They include former prime minister Han Duck-soo, who received a 23-year prison sentence for attempting to legitimise the decree by forcing it through a cabinet council meeting, falsifying records and lying under oath.

Han has appealed against the verdict.