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By Micah McCartney
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Impeached former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to life in prison for his attempted power grab in December 2024.
Why It Matters
Though Yoon's December 3, 2024 martial law order was lifted six hours later, it triggered South Korea's most serious political crisis in decades. In a televised addressed, Yoon accused opposition lawmakers of "anti-state activities" and collaborating with "North Korean communists,"and ordered the military to enforce the suspension of national and local legislatures.
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He also reportedly ordered the arrest of several political opponents from both the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and his own People Power Party (PPP).
Newsweek reached out to the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., by email with a request for comment.
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What To Know
In a ruling broadcast live on national television, the Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of leading an insurrection, the most serious of the charges he faced in connection with the martial law declaration. The court emphasized Yoon's deployment of troops as central to the case, Yonhap reported.
"It is difficult to deny that former President Yoon inwardly aimed to make the National Assembly unable to function properly for a considerable period by blocking and paralyzing the National Assembly's activities by means of sending troops to the National Assembly to seal it off and arrest key politicians," Judge Jee Kui-youn stated during the hearing.
A special prosecutor had sought the death penalty—the maximum sentence for the charge—though that outcome was widely viewed as unlikely given the coup attempt did not result in any casualties. South Korea has observed a de facto moratorium on capital punishment since carrying out its last execution in 1997.
Yoon, 65, had pleaded not guilty to insurrection. After the verdict, his lawyers condemned the trial as "nothing more than a mere formality to reach a predetermined conclusion," per NBC.
Yoon is expected to appeal the sentence.
What People Are Saying:
Sean King, an Asia scholar and vice president of New York-based consultancy Park Strategies, told Newsweek: "Yoon’s life sentence was expected, and his self-destruction is a true tragedy as America had put such faith in him. But he’s already almost forgotten here, as current President Lee Jae Myung’s so far done a good enough job managing Donald Trump and the U.S.-ROK [Republic of Korea] alliance."
Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, wrote in a statement shared with Newsweek: "Yoon’s sentencing does not represent a national catharsis since most Koreans have already emotionally moved on from the former president. Nor does this televised verdict mark closure because many cases and appeals related to Yoon’s martial law debacle have yet to be fully adjudicated.
"South Korea’s main conservative party (PPP) remains in disarray and likely needs generational change after Yoon, ideological rebranding with a new name, and experience as a loyal opposition. The main progressive party (DPK) is unlikely to come to terms with its responsibility for social and economic divisions until it loses an election, and that won’t happen until Yoon’s martial law declaration stops being the gift that keeps on giving to his political rivals."
Read Newsweek's 2024 Interview With Yoon and Profile of Yoon
- https://www.newsweek.com/2024/11/15/south-north-korea-president-yoon-sik-yeol-interview-1979864.html
- https://www.newsweek.com/2024/11/15/north-south-korea-president-reform-health-labor-1979846.html
Update 2/19/2026 5 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Sean King.
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