Former South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of multiple charges, including attempting to prevent arrest following a failed plan to impose martial law in December 2024.
Mr. Yoon was sentenced Friday at the Seoul Central District Court in a televised hearing in one of the country’s most sensitive political trials in recent history.
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But this is only the first verdict in several trials facing the controversial former leader since he was impeached and detained following mass demonstrations against the government since late 2024. In another case, he could be sentenced to death if found guilty of sedition.
Yoon became the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested and indicted. His short-lived government was plagued by criticism and low ratings. But his sudden announcement of martial law shocked democracies and the world, sparking a dramatic political story.
Yun’s lawyers said he would appeal the court’s decision.
Here’s what we know about the Yun administration and the latest ruling.
What did the court decide?
A three-law panel of the Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of several charges on Friday and sentenced him to five years in prison.
They are: that he violated the right of investigators to deliberate on the imposition of martial law; evading arrest and obstructing justice in January 2025; and fabrication of official documents related to the declaration of martial law in December 2024.
In his ruling, Chief Justice Baek Dae-hyun said martial law could only be invoked in exceptional circumstances and that the president should consult with cabinet ministers before making a decision.
According to a report in the national newspaper Korea Times, the judge said, “Yun, in an unprecedented manner, notified only a select group of ministers of the meeting regarding the declaration of martial law, directly violating the constitution and infringing on the deliberative rights of the ministers who were not notified.”
The court also ruled that after Congress voted to impeach Yun, on January 3, 2025, Yun mobilized the security forces of the Presidential Security Office to prevent the arrest ordered by the Corruption Investigation Unit (CIO).
“Defendant abused his tremendous influence as president to prevent sheriff’s office personnel from executing legitimate warrants, effectively privatizing them…for personal safety and personal gain,” Judge Baek said.
The court found that Mr. Yun altered the dates and signatures of important documents prepared afterward on Dec. 7 to make it appear as if procedural requirements had been met when he declared martial law on Dec. 3.
Outside court, Yoo Jeong-hwa, a lawyer representing Mr. Yoon, told reporters that the verdict was “politicized” and that the former president would appeal.
Who is Yoon Seok-yeol?
Mr. Yoon (65) is a lawyer by profession. He served as president from May 2022 until his official removal from office in April 2025.
He served as a prosecutor in the trials of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak. Their convictions drew him to the attention of leftist parties, and he was appointed prosecutor general by the leftist Moon Jae-in government from 2019 to 2021.
However, after Yun launched an investigation into the government and at least one cabinet minister resigned, he gained recognition even among conservatives. In general, he had a wide appeal and was considered a serious and principled lawyer, loyal only to the law.
Yun ran as a candidate for the conservative People Power Party in the 2022 presidential election, pledging anti-feminist policies such as economic deregulation and the controversial abolition of the Ministry of Gender. He narrowly defeated the opposition Democratic Party, but his government was expected to unite the two factions. Instead, the Yun government moved further to the right, clashing with the left-wing opposition party that controls Congress.
In particular, the government was criticized for its response to the Halloween mob tragedy in Seoul in October 2022 that killed more than 150 people and plunged the country into mourning, as well as for its clash with the Korean Medical Association, which accused authorities of increasing the number of medical students rather than reforming the health sector to benefit working professionals.
Yun’s approval ratings declined during his term. According to various opinion polls, his approval rating was around 52% in May 2022, when he was first elected, but as of December 2024 it was around 36%.
Two years after taking office, parliamentary elections have further weakened his NPP party and hindered progress on Yun’s budget policy.
What was the martial law crisis?
On the night of December 3, 2024, Yun shocked South Korea and the world by imposing martial law, citing the need to “protect the country from North Korean communists and eliminate anti-national elements.”
Yun also accused opposition politicians of being “an anti-national den of criminals” who are “trying to subvert liberal democracy” by blocking his budget proposal. He advocated the need to “rebuild the country and protect it from collapse.”
When the parliamentarians tried to convene, Mr. Yun ordered the military to blockade the National Assembly and arrest opposition leaders.
However, parliamentarians managed to get inside the building and voted to lift martial law just after midnight on December 4, just hours after it was declared.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets to protest and demand Yoon’s resignation.
On December 7, Yun apologized to the people, calling martial law an “act of governance.” Congress voted to impeach him on December 14, suspending his powers as president.
After that, he holed up in the presidential palace and did not respond to a summons from the CIO, an agency that investigates crimes committed by government officials.
CIO security forces attempted to enter the compound on January 3, but were stopped by security forces still loyal to Yun. In a second attempt on January 15, after more than 3,000 troops were committed to the mission, Yun was arrested and remains in custody.
Yun’s term officially ended on April 4, when the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment.
South Korea, which prides itself on being a stable democracy, last experienced martial law in 1979, after military leader Chun Doo-hwan seized power in a coup.
What other challenges will Yun face?
Yoon has been charged with four criminal offenses, ranging from leading a riot, a more serious crime, to violating election campaign laws during the election period.
rebellion
Yun was indicted on charges of insurrection in January 2025, after Congress voted to impeach him but before the Constitutional Court approved it.
The riot charges relate to actions Yun took on Dec. 3, 2024, to blockade the National Assembly and prevent members of Congress attempting to block martial law from entering. The charges also relate to his order to arrest the speaker and opposition leaders.
Yun repeatedly insisted that he had no intention of imposing military rule. He has warned of wrongdoing by opposition parties and claims that his move was to protect democracy from “anti-national” elements.
His lawyers also argue that the CIO had no authority to investigate him and that the president had the right to declare martial law because of the emergency.
Mr. Yun’s lawyers offered the same defense at Friday’s hearing, but it was rejected by the court, potentially marking the case as an insurrection.
The sedition trial begins on January 9th, and the court is scheduled to issue a verdict on February 19th.
On Tuesday, prosecutors sought the death penalty against Yoon in a closed hearing. The death penalty is legal in South Korea, but no executions have been carried out since 1997.
Chun Doo-hwan, a former military leader who seized power in a 1979 coup and ruled until 1988, was convicted in 1996 on multiple charges, including orchestrating a coup and declaring martial law to suppress the democracy movement.
He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. However, two years later, Chung was pardoned.
espionage
Separately, Yun will also answer charges of treason in an ongoing trial that began on Monday.
In that case, he was accused of aiding the enemy and was indicted for treason in November.
Former Minister of Defense Kim Yong-hyun and former intelligence chief Yeo In-hyun were also indicted on the same charges.
Prosecutors have accused Yoon and his aides of ordering the invasion of Pyongyang by drone in October 2024 and trying to instigate a military crisis with North Korea.
Prosecutors say the plan was to encourage North Korea to retaliate so that Yun could justify imposing martial law.
Prosecutors announced that military secrets were leaked to North Korea by sending a drone when the plane crashed near Pyongyang. They argued that the crash itself was a violation of national security law.
Prosecutors also submitted notes found on former intelligence chief Yeo’s cell phone as key evidence of espionage intentions.
They claim that Mr Yeo wrote in a note to himself:
If convicted of the charges, Yoon and his aides could face up to life in prison or at least three years in prison under South Korean law.
