Yoon Gets 5 Years in First Verdict From 8 Trials

A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations. Yoon was impeached, arrested, and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

• The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

• Yoon has maintained he didn't intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon's decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power, and other criminal offenses.
• In Friday's case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting, thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree, the AP reports
• Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing "a grave punishment" was necessary because Yoon hasn't shown remorse and has only repeated "hard-to-comprehend excuses" The judge also said restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon's action was necessary.

• Yoon's defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was "politicized" and reflected "the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel." Yoon's defense team argued the ruling "oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president's constitutional powers and criminal liability."
• Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial. Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison. South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences.
• On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate "anti-state forces" and protect "the constitutional democratic order." Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn't aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon's decree. No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea in decades.