Ex-South Korea leader Yoon gets life in prison for insurrection

SEOUL: A South Korean court found ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol guilty of insurrection on Thursday and sentenced him to life in prison, saying his martial law declaration in December 2024 was a plot to “paralyse” the National Assembly.

Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised address in December 2024, saying drastic measures were needed to root out “anti-state forces”.

Presiding judge Ji Gwi-yeon said Yoon dispatched troops to the assembly building in an effort to silence his political opponents.

“The Court finds that the intention was to paralyse the assembly for a considerable period,” Ji told Seoul Central District Court.

“The declaration of martial law resulted in enormous social costs, and it is difficult to find any indication that the defendant has expressed remorse for that,” the judge said.

“We sentence Yoon to life imprisonment.”

The 65-year-old hardline conservative was impeached, arrested and charged with a litany of crimes ranging from insurrection to obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors sought the harshest penalty on the insurrection charges, urging the Seoul Central District Court to put Yoon on death row during hearings in January.

South Korea has an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment — the last prisoners were executed in 1997 — with a death sentence effectively banishing Yoon to life behind bars.

Thousands of supporters gathered outside the Seoul Central District Court ahead of the verdict, toting placards that read “Yoon Great Again” or “Drop the charge against President Yoon”.

There were loud cries as a blue prison bus believed to be transporting the former president made its way into the court complex.

Police clad in neon-coloured jackets gathered in force outside the courthouse to quell any unrest triggered by the verdict.

Long seen as a shining light of stable democracy in Asia, Yoon’s failed bid to seize power stirred unpleasant memories of the military coups that jolted the nation between 1960 and 1980.

He has consistently denied wrongdoing, arguing he acted to “safeguard freedom” and restore constitutional order against what he called an opposition-led “legislative dictatorship”.

Prosecutors accused him of leading an “insurrection” driven by a “lust for power aimed at dictatorship and long-term rule”.

Yoon broke into late-night TV on December 3, 2024, to deliver a shock address to the nation.

Pointing to vague threats of North Korean influence and dangerous “anti-state forces”, he declared the suspension of civilian government and the start of military rule.

Martial law was lifted six hours later after lawmakers raced to the assembly building to hold an emergency vote.

Staffers barricaded the doors with office furniture to keep armed troops at bay.

The declaration triggered flash protests, sent the stock market into panic and caught key military allies such as the United States off guard.