A court in Seoul has sentenced 65-year-old former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to 30 years in prison, Yonhap reports. The court found him guilty of attempting to provoke a conflict with North Korea to justify the imposition of martial law in December 2024.
According to the prosecution, he authorised an operation to launch drones into North Korean territory in October 2024, hoping to escalate the situation.
In the same case, former Defence Minister Kim Yeon-hyeon was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and former head of military counter-intelligence Yeo In-hyun to 15 years.
Earlier, the court sentenced Yoon Seok-yol to life imprisonment for organising a mutiny and abuse of power in connection with his failed attempt to impose martial law in 2024. The special prosecutor had sought the death penalty, although South Korea has had a moratorium on capital punishment in place since 1997.
Yoon Suk-yeol denies the charges. He maintains that, as president, he had the right to declare martial law and that his move was intended to draw attention to the obstruction of government work by opposition parties.
On 3 December 2024, following a prolonged conflict with the parliamentary opposition, Yoon Seok-yol announced the imposition of martial law – “to combat internal supporters of the DPRK”. The decree, which remained in force for six hours, banned political parties, protests and strikes, and introduced censorship and military field tribunals with the power to impose the death penalty. This sparked widespread protests both on the streets of Seoul and in parliament. Later, MPs accused Yoon of attempting a coup and initiated impeachment proceedings.
In January 2026, Yoon was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for obstruction of justice. He was found guilty of refusing to be arrested in January 2025, drafting and, following parliament’s decision, destroying a revised decree on the imposition of martial law, and ordering the deletion of records from phones used by military personnel.
In total, eight criminal cases were brought against the former president, relating to the attempted imposition of martial law, alleged corruption by his wife, and the death of a marine in 2023.