A South Korean court has sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison after he imposed martial law in the country in 2024.
Yoon was found guilty of abuse of authority and masterminding an insurrection, stemming from his mobilisation of military and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the liberal-led National Assembly in December 2024.
In this case, he also faced the death penalty.
Yoon, a staunch conservative, had defended his decree as necessary to stop liberals, whom he described as “anti-state” forces, from obstructing his agenda with their legislative majority.
The emergency rule triggered a national political crisis.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty in January, saying “his unconstitutional and illegal emergency martial law undermined the function of the National Assembly and the Election Commission, actually destroying the liberal democratic constitutional order.”
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