A Seoul court today sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison for his failed bid to impose martial law in 2024. In the first ruling on the case, the Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon of leading an insurrection through the martial law bid but handed down a sentence lighter than the death penalty recommended by special prosecutors. 

 

The court made clear that the martial law order amounted to an insurrection as the former president sought to cripple the National Assembly by sending troops to the parliamentary compound. Yoon reiterated his claim of innocence in his final statement, arguing that the exercise of a president’s constitutional state emergency right cannot constitute an insurrection.