S. Korea's ex-president Yoon sentenced to life in prison on insurrection

SEOUL -- South Korea's former President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to life in prison on charges of insurrection stemming from his declaration of emergency martial law, live footage showed Thursday.

The Seoul Central District Court delivered its ruling, which was broadcast live to the public, saying the crux of Yoon's martial law case was the fact that troops were deployed to the National Assembly.

The court explained that the martial law declaration constitutes insurrection if it infringes upon the authority of the National Assembly, noting that Yoon attempted to prevent the parliament from functioning properly for a significant period.

It recognized that the impeached leader committed insurrectionary acts with the intent to subvert the constitutional order, finding him guilty of ringleading the insurrection.

By law, the insurrection ringleader can only be sentenced to capital punishment or life imprisonment if found guilty.

The team of Cho Eun-suk, independent counsel in charge of Yoon's insurrection and other relevant crimes, requested a death sentence for Yoon on charges of orchestrating the insurrection by declaring an unconstitutional emergency martial law despite the absence of war, incident or equivalent national emergencies.

Yoon was also charged with mobilizing martial law troops and police to obstruct the National Assembly's resolution to lift the martial law and attempting to detain key political figures such as the leaders of the main political parties and the parliamentary speaker.

Yoon became the country's third former president to stand trial on insurrection charges, following former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who were convicted for military coup and brutal crackdown under martial law.

The Seoul court merged three trials in December last year for eight suspects, including Yoon and seven other senior military and police officials, charged with performing critical duties in the insurrection.

The court handed former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun a 30-year prison sentence, convicting him of performing a significant role in the insurrection.

The special counsel team sought life imprisonment for Kim, whom it called a mastermind who planned and led the insurrection alongside Yoon by mobilizing the military.

Former Defense Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won and former National Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho received prison terms of 18 and 12 years, respectively, for their key roles in the insurrection.

The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of Dec 3 in 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.

The constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach Yoon in April of 2025, officially removing him from office.

Yoon was indicted under detention in January of 2025 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection.