South Korean Former President
OpenLife Nigeria reports that a South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison on Thursday for leading an insurrection, in the most significant legal ruling connected with the protracted political crisis that started in late 2024.
The Seoul Central District Court announced its decision that Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law and deploy soldiers to the National Assembly constituted the crime of insurrection, which carries a possible death sentence. South Korea’s Criminal Act defines insurrection as the creation of “violence for the purpose of usurping the national territory or subverting the Constitution.”
Prosecutors sought the death penalty, although South Korea has not carried out an execution since the late 1990s.
Yoon can appeal the verdict, as can the prosecution. Yoon Kap-keun, a lawyer for Yoon, argued after the verdict was announced that there is no basis to support the conviction on insurrection and said that the ruling “ignores fundamental legal principles and the rules of evidence.” He did not announce specific steps that the former president’s legal team plans to take.
Investigators arrested him in January 2025 at the presidential residence after days of confrontation with the Presidential Security Service. Last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for obstruction of justice, charges laid when he prevented investigators from entering the compound to arrest him. His lawyers have appealed that ruling.
Source: Nikkei Asia
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