A former president of South Korea has avoided the death penalty after he was found guilty of masterminding an insurrection during his botched attempt to place the country under martial law.
Yoon Suk Yeol was instead sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after a Seoul court found him guilty of mobilising military and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the liberal-led National Assembly, arrest politicians and establish unchecked power for a considerable time in December 2025.
A special prosecutor had demanded the death penalty for Yoon, saying his actions posed a threat to the country’s democracy and deserved the most serious punishment available.
Most analysts had expected a life sentence since the poorly-planned power grab did not result in any casualties.
Yoon is also guilty of abuse of authority, the judge in his insurrection case told the court.
The ex-president is likely to appeal the verdict.
The former president, a staunch conservative, has defended his martial law decree on December 3, 2024, as a necessary act of governance against the liberals, who he described as ‘anti-state’ forces obstructing his agenda with their legislative majority.
The decree lasted about six hours before being lifted after a quorum of lawmakers managed to break through a blockade by hundreds of heavily-armed troops and police and unanimously voted to lift the measure.
South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol has been found guilty of leading an insurrection in December 2024. Pictured: Yoon arrives to attend the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 23 January 2025.
Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul on December 4 2024, after South Korea’s then President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law
Police officers close the gate of the National Assembly, after martial law was declared, in Seoul, South Korea, December 4, 2024.
The ex-president’s lawyer said the verdict was not backed by evidence, and accused the judge of following a pre-written script before delivering the sentence.
Yoon was suspended from office on December 14, 2024, after being impeached and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025.
The court also convicted and sentenced several former military and police officials involved in enforcing Yoon’s martial law decree, including ex-Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure and mobilising the military.
He has been under arrest since last July while facing multiple criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe punishment.
The defendants can appeal within a week, the court says.
Among the defendants, Kim Yong-gun, the former chief of the defence ministry investigation bureau, and Yoon Seung-yeong, a former official at the police investigation bureau, were found not guilty.
Last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting before declaring a measure.
The Seoul Central Court has also convicted two of Yoon’s Cabinet members in other cases.
That includes Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who received a 23-year prison sentence for attempting to legitimise the decree by forcing it through a Cabinet Council meeting, falsifying records and lying under oath.
Han has appealed the verdict.
As Yoon arrived in court, hundreds of police officers watched closely as Yoon supporters rallied outside a judicial complex, their cries rising as the prison bus transporting him drove past.
A bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the Seoul Central District Court, for his sentencing trial in his insurrection case, stemming from his short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024, in Seoul, South Korea, February 19, 2026
A protester holds a placard showing a photo of South Korea’s impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol with words reading ‘A death sentence’ during a rally against Yoon near the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on February 19, 2026
The former president appeared straight-faced when he received his sentence.
The judge added that Yoon had damaged South Korea’s democracy and deserved a harsh punishment.
Yoon’s critics gathered nearby, demanding the death penalty.
This is a breaking story, more to follow.
