South Korean court hands life term to ex‑President Yoon for insurrection
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SEOUL – A South Korean court sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison on Feb 19, after finding him guilty of masterminding an insurrection, stemming from his December 2024 attempt to impose martial law
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty in the case
Yoon conspired with his then defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, to subvert the constitutional order by deploying troops to Parliament, intending to paralyse its functions, Judge Jee Kui-youn told a packed courtroom.
“It is the court’s judgment that sending armed troops to Parliament... and using equipment to try to make arrests all constitute acts of insurrection,” he said, speaking for the panel of three judges.
Yoon led a number of officials and troops in criminal activities on Dec 3, 2024, and “because of the martial law declaration, an enormous social cost was incurred”, Judge Jee said as he handed down the life term for the former leader.
Wearing a dark navy suit without a tie, Yoon, 65, stood ashen-faced as the sentences were read out to him and seven other defendants, including former defence minister Kim, who received 30 years, and former top police officials.
Yoon’s defence team will discuss with him whether to appeal against the ruling, with one of his lawyers, Mr Yoon Kab-keun, saying the court ruling completely ignored the key legal principle of basing findings on evidence.
A lawyer for Kim said the former defence minister would “of course appeal”.
A prosecutor said the team had some “regret” over the sentencing but declined to say whether it planned to appeal.
Risk of death penalty
Before delivering the verdict, Judge Jee reviewed the long history of treason and insurrection, from the Roman Empire and mediaeval era to the trial and execution of England’s Charles I for waging war against Parliament.
Masterminding an insurrection carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty or life imprisonment under South Korean law.
The country last handed down a death sentence in 2016, but has not executed anyone since 1997.
Yoon denied the charges. The conservative former career prosecutor said he had presidential authority to declare martial law and his action was aimed at sounding the alarm over opposition parties’ obstruction of government.
The ousted leader is likely to remain held at the Seoul Detention Centre. He can appeal against the ruling and again challenge any appellate court decision at the Supreme Court.
Judicial guidelines say the first trial should conclude within six months and the entire process, including appeals, in two years, but trials often exceed that.
Yoon, who has faced eight trial proceedings, is appealing against a five-year jail term
Shock waves in South Korea
While Yoon’s bid to impose martial law lasted only about six hours before it was met by large street protests and voted down by Parliament, it sent shock waves through Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a key US security ally, and long considered one of the world’s most resilient democracies.
Mr Ko Jeong-suk, 65, who watched the court decision at Seoul Station, said the martial law bid deepened social divisions. “I really think it should have been the death sentence so that this doesn’t become an example to repeat.”
But hundreds of Yoon supporters rallied outside the court complex calling for him to be freed.
Supporters of South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol gathering near the Seoul Central District Court on Feb 19.
PHOTO: AFP
In a post on X, President Lee Jae Myung, a liberal who won the presidency in a snap election
“It was possible because it was the Republic of Korea,” Mr Lee said, using the official name of the country, whose people would set an example for history, he added.
His post ahead of the ruling on Feb 19 was attached to a newspaper report that some academics had recommended a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for the South Korean public
