Martial Law Declaration Sees Former South Korean President Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
A South Korean court has declared former President Yoon Suk Yeol guilty of insurrection charges linked to his martial law declaration in 2024. Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment by the court.
As reported by AFP on Thursday (19 February 2026), the Seoul Central District Court ruled that Yoon’s martial law declaration in December 2024 constituted a deliberate plan to “paralyse” the National Assembly, South Korea’s parliament.
“Against the defendant Yoon Suk Yeol, the crime of leading an insurrection has been proven,” said presiding judge Ji Gwi Yeon whilst reading the verdict.
Judge Ji stated that Yoon was found to have deployed military forces to the parliamentary building to silence his political opponents. The judge handed down a life sentence for his actions.
“The court found that the objective was to paralyse parliament for a considerable period. The martial law declaration caused enormous social harm, and it is difficult to find any indication that the defendant has expressed remorse for this,” said Judge Ji.
“We sentence Yoon to life imprisonment,” Judge Ji declared in the ruling.
In December 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a speech broadcast on local South Korean television. He stated at the time that drastic measures were necessary to eradicate what he termed “anti-state forces.”
The hardline conservative figure, aged 65, was subsequently impeached, arrested, and charged with a series of criminal offences ranging from insurrection to obstruction of justice.
South Korean prosecutors had sought the maximum penalty for the insurrection charge and urged the Seoul Central District Court to impose the death sentence on Yoon during trial proceedings held in January.
However, South Korea maintains an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment. The last execution was carried out in 1997. A death sentence would effectively have meant Yoon spending the remainder of his life in prison. Yoon had previously been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on lesser charges.
Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment in early January on bribery charges. Kim’s case was unrelated to the martial law crisis.
In addition to Yoon, former South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo was sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in the martial law declaration. Han was found guilty of aiding and abetting the martial law declaration in December 2024.
The South Korean court also sentenced former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to seven years’ imprisonment for his role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.