Former South Korean president sentenced to life imprisonment for declaring martial law

BarcelonaA South Korean court has sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of abuse of power and leading an insurrection. due to the declaration of martial law in the country on December 3, 2024. The president, who declared a state of emergency live on television, unleashed one of the deepest institutional crises in the country's democratic history. Although the South Korean Public Prosecutor's Office requested the death penalty, the judges did not support the request, as the country has a moratorium on capital punishment. de facto Regarding this conviction, no executions have been carried out since 1997.

The Seoul Central District Court found that the former president intended to "subvert the Constitution" with the martial law he declared, as it obstructed constitutional institutions and undermined democratic values. The court also found it proven that Yoon directly ordered the arrest of politicians, including then-opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who won the elections held after the crisis triggered by Yoon.

Yoon Suk-yeol's pretext for declaring martial law was the need to defend the country from "anti-state forces." The then-president had governed the country since 2022. In his two years in power, he had encountered difficulties in passing his legislative proposals, as he lacked a majority in the National Assembly and the opposition blocked almost every vote.

Removed from office after the coup

However, the coup failed, as the president quickly had to back down. Opposition parties, after lifting martial law with a vote in the National Assembly, gathered the necessary votes to impeach him. Even deputies from his own party, the People Power Party, supported removing him from office.

In the Asian country, the most recent precedent of a leader sentenced to life imprisonment is that of dictator Chun Doo-hwan. In 1996, a court imposed this sentence on him for leading the 1979 military coup and the subsequent repression. He was initially sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was eventually pardoned.