Appeals court slashes ex-justice minister's sentence to 9 years over martial law role
Summary
The Seoul High Court on Wednesday sentenced former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae to nine years in prison in Seoul over his role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law bid. It found that Park played a key role in an insurrection by ordering subordinates to prepare measures to carry out the decree. The court overturned his convictions on several other charges, reducing his sentence from 25 years. It said Park knew the decree was unconstitutional and illegal.
Key Facts
- The court found that Park’s order for the justice ministry official responsible for exit bans to report to work constituted a key role in the insurrection.
- The court also found that Park’s instruction to the head of correctional services to check correctional facilities’ capacity constituted a key role in the insurrection.
- Park was acquitted of insurrection charges related to reviewing whether prosecutors might be sent to a martial law investigative body, as well as power-abuse charges tied to his instructions to immigration and correctional officials.
- Special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team had sought a 25-year prison term in the appellate trial, matching the sentence imposed by the lower court.
Former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, April 16. Joint Press Corps
An appellate court on Wednesday significantly reduced former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae's sentence from 25 years to nine years in prison over his role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid.
The Seoul High Court handed down the lighter sentence, convicting Park of playing a key role in an insurrection under Yoon's short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024, while overturning a lower court's conviction on multiple other charges.
The appellate court ruled Park was aware that Yoon's emergency decree did not meet the substantive and procedural conditions for martial law, and the declaration was made for unconstitutional and illegal purposes.
It found Park's order for the chief of the immigration office at the justice ministry to have his official in charge of placing exit bans report to work constituted playing a key role in an insurrection, as well as his instruction to the head of correctional services to check the capacity of correctional facilities.
The court, however, acquitted him of insurrection charges over his instructions to review possibly sending prosecutors to a martial law investigative body and power abuse charges in connection with the instructions to the immigration and correctional officials.
The lower court had convicted him on all of the charges brought by special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team, which had sought a 25-year prison term for Park in the appellate trial.
"Based on the defendant's career, he is assumed to have been well aware of the unconstitutional nature of the emergency martial law and the decree," the appeals court said. "He can only be assessed as actively participating in it by ordering necessary measures to execute the decree to his subordinates."
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