A South Korean court sentences Yoon to 5 years in prison on charges
related to martial law decree
[January 16, 2026]
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — 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, An independent counsel
has requested the death sentence over that charge, and the Seoul Central
District Court will decide on that in a ruling on Feb. 19.
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.
Yoon gets 5-year prison term in 1st verdict from 8 trials
In Friday’s case, the Seoul court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to
detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a
legally mandated full Cabinet meeting, depriving some Cabinet members
who were not convened of their rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a heavy
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.”
Yoon will likely avoid death sentence in 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. Park said the court
would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and
didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his
action.
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A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed
on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District
Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee
Jin-man)
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were
jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity.
Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the
death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody
1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200
people, and other crimes.
Even if Yoon is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the
rebellion trial, he may still face other prison sentences in the
multiple smaller trials he faces.
Some observers say Yoon is likely retaining a defiant attitude in
the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that
he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the
future.
Yoon's decree plunged South Korea into political turmoil
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 decree caused the biggest
political crisis in South Korea in decades and rattled its diplomacy
and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind
in more than 40 years in South Korea, brought back harrowing
memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when
military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to
deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became
president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee
appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations
involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights
over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a
pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of
manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and
receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for
a political favor.
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