Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday after the Seoul Central District Court found him guilty of leading an insurrection over his brief imposition of martial law on December 3, 2024.

The court held that Yoon’s decision to declare martial law and deploy military and police forces against the National Assembly amounted to an unlawful attempt to dismantle the constitutional order of South Korea. It found that the actions met the threshold for insurrection and showed “intent to subvert the Constitution” and involved “riot.”

Presiding Judge Ji Gwi-yeon said Yoon acted with the intent “to paralyze the assembly for a considerable period.” He cited evidence that troops were ordered to blockade the National Assembly and detain senior politicians, including parliamentary leaders. In sentencing Yoon, the judges cited his refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing, his non-attendance at several hearings, the broader societal harm caused by the crisis, and the downgrade of the nation’s international credibility.

The court imposed life imprisonment with hard labor, rejecting the prosecutors’ request for the death penalty.

Co-defendants with Yoon were also found guilty for their role in the insurrection. Former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong Hyun received a 30-year jail term, former Defense Intelligence Command chief Noh Sang-won received 18 years, former Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency Cho Ji-ho received 12, former Commissioner General of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Kim Bong-sik 10, and former National Assembly Guard Chief Mok Hyun-tae received three.

In a statement to his lawyer, Yoon apologized: “I deeply apologize to the people for the frustration and hardships I have caused them, due to my own shortcomings, despite my resolve to save the nation.”

On 3 December, 2024, Yoon declared martial law under Article 77 of the Constitution. He justified this “to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces.” Yoon was subsequently impeached by the National Assembly and later dismissed from his office following a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Korea “on the grounds that he violated the Constitution and statutes in the course of performing his official duties and that such violations were grave.”

Yoon was also arrested and sentenced to five years in prison in January 17, based on obstruction charges, which were televised nationwide. He was the first president in South Korean history to be arrested while in office.

Thurday’s verdict was also allowed to be broadcast live, reflecting the case’s constitutional importance in resolving one of the biggest political crises in the country’s democratic history. It marks the first time in 30 years that South Korea has sentenced a leader for insurrection, and he becomes the first elected head of state in the country’s democratic history to receive the maximum custodial sentence.

A parliamentary subcommittee has also approved a bill that would prohibit presidential pardons for the crime of insurrection.