South Korean Court Sentences Yoon Suk Yeol to Life Imprisonment Over Martial Law Insurrection

A court in Seoul on Thursday sentenced ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection linked to his attempt to impose martial law in December 2024. The Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon of acting as an “insurrection ringleader” and handed down the life sentence in its first trial, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty over Yoon’s failed bid to impose martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024. The former president attended the hearing, which was broadcast live on national television. In its ruling, the court said the martial law decree amounted to an insurrection, stating that Yoon attempted to cripple the National Assembly of South Korea by deploying troops to the parliament compound.

The court also sentenced former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years in prison, while former intelligence commander Noh Sang-won received an 18-year sentence for their involvement in the failed martial law declaration.

Yoon was indicted in January 2025 on charges of leading an insurrection after declaring martial law in December 2024, a move that lasted approximately six hours before being overturned. Prosecutors alleged that he ordered military troops and police to surround the National Assembly in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from voting down his decree.

Last month, the former president was also sentenced to five years in prison on charges of obstructing investigators’ attempts to detain him. He faces a total of seven trials related to the martial law attempt, his wife’s alleged corruption, and the 2023 death of a Marine officer.

Yoon was arrested and indicted in January 2025, becoming the first sitting president in South Korean history to be taken into custody. He was released in March, rearrested in July, and has remained in detention since.