South Korea court sentences ex-President Yoon to life for martial law bid

A South Korean court sentenced ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment on Thursday, convicting him of leading an insurrection in connection with his abortive attempt to impose martial law in December 2024. The Seoul Central District Court delivered the verdict in a nationally televised hearing, finding that Yoon acted as an "insurrection ringleader" when he sought to deploy troops to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from overturning his decree.

Failed Martial Law and Military Involvement

The court determined that Yoon's martial law order, which lasted approximately six hours before being overturned, constituted an insurrection by seeking to cripple the legislature through military force. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for the former president, who attended the hearing as the verdict was read. The failed declaration saw military troops and police surround the parliament building in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to prevent legislative action against Yoon's edict.

Co-conspirators Sentenced

The court also handed down significant prison terms to key Yoon associates involved in the plot. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun received a 30-year sentence, while former Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won was sentenced to 18 years for their respective roles in the failed martial law declaration. The sentences reflect the judiciary's assessment of the gravity of the attempt to subvert democratic institutions through military intervention.

Multiple Legal Proceedings Continue

Yoon was indicted in January 2025 on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting president in South Korean history to be taken into custody. He faces a total of seven trials related to his martial law attempt, his wife's alleged corruption, and the 2023 death of a Marine officer. Last month, he received an additional five-year sentence for obstructing investigators' attempt to detain him. His legal odyssey—arrested last January, released in March, rearrested in July, and detained since—has dramatically marked the fall of a leader whose power grab triggered South Korea's most severe constitutional crisis in decades.