South Korean court sentences ex-President Yoon to 5 years in prison

A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison on charges including obstructing authorities’ attempts to arrest him after his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of mobilizing presidential security services to prevent authorities from executing an arrest warrant to investigate his declaration of martial law.

In a televised trial, the 65-year-old former prosecutor was also found guilty of charges including fabricating official documents and failing to follow the legal procedure required for martial law, which must be discussed at a formal cabinet meeting.

The move is the first related to the criminal charges Yoon faces following his botched declaration of martial law.

“The defendant abused his enormous influence as president to prevent the execution of legitimate mandates through security service agents, effectively privatizing officials…loyal to the Republic of Korea for their personal security and personal gain,” said the lead judge of the three-judge panel.

Yoon showed no reaction

Yoon, his hair streaked with gray, listened attentively to the judge’s ruling, appearing noticeably thinner than during his first investigation a year ago.

He showed no reaction when the sentence was announced in a courtroom filled with many of his supporters.

Speaking in court immediately afterwards, one of Yoon’s lawyers, Yoo Jung-hwa, said the former president would appeal. “We regret that the decision was taken in a politicized way,” she said.

Prosecutors did not respond to reporters’ questions about whether they would appeal, which they have the right to do under South Korean law.

Prosecutors asked the court in a separate trial to sentence Yoon to death for orchestrating an insurrection by attempting to impose military rule without justification and to suspend Parliament.

Yoon, who is currently detained at the Seoul Detention Center on the outskirts of the capital, said it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and that the action was aimed at sounding the alarm about obstruction of the government by opposition parties.

Enhanced security

A few dozen supporters gathered outside the court complex before the hearing, holding signs saying Yoon was the victim of a political witch hunt. “History will be the judge,” the signs said, and Yoon remained president.

There was a heavy police presence in and around the court, which is just a few blocks from Yoon’s upscale apartment in Seoul.

Yoon could have faced up to 10 years in prison for the obstruction charges related to when he barricaded himself in his residential complex in January last year and ordered security services to block investigators.

He was eventually arrested in a second attempt involving more than 3,000 police officers. Yoon’s arrest was the first for a sitting president in South Korea.

Parliament, joined by some members of Yoon’s conservative party, voted within hours to overturn his surprise martial law decree and later impeached him, suspending his powers.

He was dismissed from his post in April last year by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that he had violated the duties of his office.

Although Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law lasted only about six hours, it sent shockwaves through South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a key U.S. security ally and long considered one of the world’s most resilient democracies.

Yoon is the latest in a series of South Korean presidents who have been convicted and imprisoned, including former general Chun Doo-hwan, sentenced to death in 1996 for the brutal suppression of mass protests in Gwangju in 1980. Chun’s sentence was later commuted and he was pardoned after serving two years in prison.