{"id":570,"date":"2026-02-19T15:27:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/?p=570"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:27:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:27:02","slug":"former-south-korean-president-yoon-suk-yeol-sentenced-to-life-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/former-south-korean-president-yoon-suk-yeol-sentenced-to-life-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol sentenced to life in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

A South Korean court sentenced former president Yoon Suk-yeol to life in prison after ruling that he \u201cled a rebellion\u201d when declaring martial law in December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Seoul Central District Court today declared that former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol committed a crime by mobilizing the military and police in an \u201cillegal effort to seize parliament, arrest politicians, and establish long-term absolute power.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe declaration of martial law caused immense social damage. It is difficult to find any sign that the defendant has shown remorse for it. We sentence Mr. Yoon to life in prison,\u201d Judge Ji Gwi-yeon stated at the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former president Yoon's lawyer argued that the verdict was not based on evidence in the case and suggested it was a \u201cpredetermined script.\u201d He will discuss the possibility of an appeal with his client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of police were deployed to closely monitor a group of Yoon's supporters gathered outside the court. Critics of the former South Korean president also gathered nearby to call for the court to hand down a death sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Former
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks at a court in Seoul in December 2025. Photo: Yonhap<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Special prosecutors had previously requested the death penalty, arguing that Mr. Yoon must face the severest punishment under the law because the former South Korean president's actions \u201cthreatened the national democracy.\u201d South Korea has not carried out an execution since 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Mr. Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for resisting officials on duty, forging a martial law declaration, and bypassing the law by failing to hold a required cabinet meeting before announcing the measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When declaring martial law on December 3, 2024, Mr. Yoon cited a \u201cthreat from North Korea,\u201d calling the South Korean parliament a \u201cden of criminals\u201d and \u201canti-state forces.\u201d He dispatched armed troops to the parliament headquarters to prevent lawmakers from voting to block the martial law order, but the effort failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former president Yoon was arrested during a raid on his residence in January 2025 and was impeached three months later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former president Yoon defended the martial law order, arguing it was necessary to stop progressives, whom he described as \u201ctreasonous forces,\u201d from using their majority in parliament to obstruct his agendas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vu Hoang <\/strong>(According to Yonhap, Reuters<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge deciding the fate of the former South Korean president<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Judge Jee Kui-youn, who has handled many high-profile cases in South Korea, will decide the fate of former president Yoon Suk-yeol after he was recommended for the death penalty.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Former<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former president Yoon accused of \u2018deliberately stirring up trouble\u2019 with North Korea<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol is accused of ordering UAVs to fly over North Korea to incite tension, aiming for a pretext to declare martial law.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Prosecutors<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors move to indict former South Korean president for abuse of power<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors brought additional charges against former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol regarding abuse of power related to the declaration of martial law.<\/a> <\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T\u00f2a H\u00e0n Qu\u1ed1c tuy\u00ean \u00e1n t\u00f9 chung th\u00e2n v\u1edbi c\u1ef1u t\u1ed5ng th\u1ed1ng Yoon Suk-yeol, sau khi ph\u00e1n quy\u1ebft \u00f4ng “c\u1ea7m \u0111\u1ea7u n\u1ed5i lo\u1ea1n” khi ban b\u1ed1 thi\u1ebft qu\u00e2n lu\u1eadt h\u1ed3i th\u00e1ng 12\/2024. T\u00f2a \u00e1n qu\u1eadn Trung t\u00e2m Seoul h\u00f4m nay tuy\u00ean b\u1ed1 c\u1ef1u t\u1ed5ng th\u1ed1ng H\u00e0n Qu\u1ed1c Yoon Suk-yeol \u0111\u00e3 ph\u1ea1m t\u1ed9i khi huy \u0111\u1ed9ng […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"rankmath_keywords":{"primary":"","secondary":[""]},"yoast_keywords":{"primary":"","secondary":[]},"yoast_focuskw":"","rankmath_focuskw":"","seo_keywords":{"primary":"","secondary":[""]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":571,"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions\/571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lic.dps.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}