A court in Seoul has sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison after finding him guilty of masterminding an insurrection linked to his short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty in a case that has sharply divided the country.
Judges ruled that Yoon conspired with then-defence minister Kim Yong-hyun to deploy armed troops to parliament in a bid to paralyse its functions and subvert the constitutional order. The martial law order lasted only about six hours before it was overturned by lawmakers amid mass public protests, but the court said it imposed enormous social and political costs.
Yoon, a former prosecutor who denied wrongdoing, argued he had constitutional authority to declare martial law and intended only to warn against what he described as opposition obstruction. His legal team said they would discuss whether to appeal. Kim was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while other former officials also received lengthy terms.
The ruling represents the most significant of several criminal cases facing Yoon and sends shockwaves through Asia's fourth-largest economy, long regarded as one of the region's most resilient democracies. Under South Korean law, insurrection carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment, though the country has not carried out an execution since 1997...