SEOUL (AFP) — A South Korean court sentenced ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison on Thursday after finding him guilty of leading an insurrection with his martial law declaration in 2024. 

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

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

Presiding judge Ji Gwi-yeon said Yoon sent troops to the assembly building in an effort to silence political opponents who had frustrated his attempts to govern.

“The court finds that the intention was to paralyze the assembly for a considerable period,” Ji told the 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.”

Former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the crisis.

Prosecutors had sought the harshest penalty for Yoon’s insurrection charges, urging the court during hearings in January to sentence him to death.

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.

Unpleasant memories

Thousands of supporters gathered outside the 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-colored jackets gathered in force outside the courthouse to quell any unrest triggered by the verdict.

They formed a makeshift barricade with police buses parked nose-to-tail around the courthouse.

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

Yoon has been held in solitary confinement while fighting multiple criminal trials.

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.”