Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to life in prison for rebellion and imposition of martial law

Seoul, South Korea — Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in a dramatic culmination of the country’s biggest political crisis in decades.

Yoon fell from office after a reckless attempt to overtake an opposition-controlled legislature by declare martial law and send troops to surround the legislature on December 3, 2024.

Judge Jee Kui-youn said he found Yoon guilty of rebellion for mobilizing 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 the verdict.

His lawyer said the ruling only confirmed a previously written script and was not supported by evidence in the case, according to the Reuters news agency.

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 severe punishment available, but most analysts expected a life sentence as the poorly planned power grab led to no 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.

When Yoon arrived at the court, hundreds of police officers watched closely as Yoon’s supporters demonstrated outside a court complex, their shouts increasing as the prison bus carrying him passed by. Yoon’s critics gathered nearby and demanded the death penalty.

The court also convicted and sentenced several former military and police officers involved in enforcing Yoon’s martial law decree, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year prison sentence for his central role in planning the measure and mobilizing the military.

Yoon, a staunch conservative, has defended his martial law decree as necessary to prevent 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 lawmakers managed to break a military blockade and voted unanimously to lift the measure.

Yoon was suspended from office on December 14, 2024, after being impeached by lawmakers and 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 proclamation of martial law and avoiding a legally mandated full cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.

The Seoul Central Court also convicted two members of Yoon’s cabinet in other cases. That includes Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who received a 23-year prison sentence for trying to legitimize the decree by forcing it through a Cabinet Council meeting, falsifying records and lying under oath. Han appealed the verdict.