Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to life in prison for leading insurrection
People at Seoul Station in central Seoul watch news coverage of the court handing down a life sentence to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Thursday, on charges of leading an insurrection. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
Court deems martial law act of insurrection
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after a court found him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to his martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024.
The court concluded that his actions met the legal definition of insurrection but declined to impose the death sentence despite the special counsel’s earlier request for capital punishment.
Under Korean criminal law, the offense of leading an insurrection carries only three possible penalties: death, life imprisonment with labor or life imprisonment without labor.
The ruling came 443 days after Yoon declared martial law.
The court acknowledged Yoon as "the leader of the insurrection,” on the basis that his martial law declaration violated the authority of the National Assembly, an act which constitutes insurrection.
Supporters of former President Yoon Suk Yeol rally near Seoul Central District Court, calling for the acquittal of Yoon, who faces a verdict on insurrection charges, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
“The core factual element of this case is that troops were sent to the National Assembly,” the court said, emphasizing that the act itself represented the use of force against a constitutional body.
“It cannot be ruled out that Yoon aimed to paralyze the Assembly for a considerable period of time by sending troops to the Assembly to block it and arresting major politicians,” it said.
The judges further noted that even a sitting president can face insurrection charges if it is proven that there was intent to disrupt the constitutional order.
The court said the martial law fiasco caused serious damage to government institutions, noting that the military and police had lost much of their political neutrality and that the episode hurt Korea’s reputation abroad.
It also criticized Yoon for leading the crimes himself, forcing many people involved in them and causing enormous social costs, while he has “rarely showed regret” over these.
But the court handed down a a life sentence rather than the death penalty, saying, “The plan does not appear to have been prepared elaborately, and direct physical violence was largely absent.” It noted that the defendant had no prior criminal record.
The case was centered on whether the move was an attempt to subvert the constitutional order.
Prosecutors from the special counsel team alleged that Yoon conspired with senior officials, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, to impose martial law despite the absence of the constitutional conditions required to do so.
They contended that troops and police officers were deployed to prevent the Assembly from voting to lift the decree and that authorities moved to detain prominent political figures and election officials.
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, back row left, attends a hearing on his insurrection charges related to the Dec. 3, 2024 martial law declaration at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul’s Seocho District, Thursday. Courtesy of Seoul Central District Court
In their closing arguments, the special prosecutors described the case as a profound breach of constitutional governance and sought the harshest punishment allowed under law. They argued that deploying armed personnel and attempting to seal off the Assembly amounted to a use of force that satisfies the legal threshold for insurrection.
Yoon’s lawyers, however, maintained that the declaration was a lawful exercise of presidential authority intended to alert the public to what he described as a national crisis. In his final statement, Yoon said the measure was meant as a warning and an appeal rather than an attempt to overthrow the constitutional order.
After the verdict, his legal team issued a statement condemning the ruling, saying the court had ignored “the truth” and yielded to the current liberal administration.
It said it would "fight until the end," implying Yoon would appeal.
Protesters from civic groups rally near the Seoul Central District Court, Thursday, calling for a guilty verdict for former President Yoon Suk Yeol on his charges of leading an insurrection related to his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. Yonhap
In the same ruling, the court also sentenced former Defense Minister Kim to 30 years in prison for his "deep" involvement in the insurrection. Retired Maj. Gen. Noh Sang-won, who was one of the figures involved in planning the martial law issuance, was given 18 years in jail, and former National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho was sentenced to 12 years for his role in blocking the Assembly.
The case was widely seen as a test of the legal boundary between presidential emergency powers and the constitutional limits on executive authority. A comparable precedent dates back to 1996, when former President Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death at his first trial on insurrection-related charges stemming from the violent military suppression of pro-democracy protests in Gwangju in 1980. The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment on appeal, and Chun ended up receiving a presidential pardon in 1997.