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A South Korean court declared President Yoon Seok-yeol’s imposition of martial law in 2024 an act of rebellion and sentenced the former prime minister to 23 years in prison for his role.
President Yoon’s former prime minister, Han Deok-soo, was the first official in the government to be convicted on rebellion charges related to the declaration of martial law in December 2024. The landmark verdict is expected to set a precedent for future rulings involving President Yoon and other colleagues, who face similar charges.
South Korea’s president was appointed by Yoon to the country’s second-highest office and served as one of three caretaker leaders during the martial law crisis, which ultimately led to President Yoon’s impeachment and removal from office.
Insurrection is one of the most serious charges in South Korea, and the independent prosecutor recently called for the death penalty for Yoon, who is accused of plotting the rebellion. The Seoul Central District Court will rule on Yoon’s rebellion charge on February 19.
In a verdict broadcast live on Wednesday, the Seoul court found that Yoon’s martial law order constituted rebellion, viewing his dispatch of troops and police to parliament and election offices as a “riot” or a “self-coup” aimed at undermining constitutional order serious enough to destabilize the region.
The court, which sentenced Yoon to martial law for playing a key role in Yoon’s rebellion, passed a cabinet meeting, giving Yoon procedural legitimacy to the martial law order. The court also found Han guilty of forging martial law, destroying martial law and lying.
Han can appeal Wednesday’s ruling but steadfastly insisted he had told Yin he opposed his martial law plans. He has denied most of the other charges.
The court said the South Korean government, then prime minister, neglected its duty to protect the constitution and instead chose to join Yun’s rebellion because he believed it might succeed.
“Due to the defendant’s actions, the Republic of Korea may return to its dark past where the people’s basic rights and liberal democratic order were trampled upon, and fall into the quagmire of dictatorship for a long time,” Judge Lee Jin-kwan said.
According to the court, Han was immediately sent to prison after the court’s ruling. Unlike Yin, he was not detained ahead of sentencing. His lengthy sentence was surprising as independent lawyers had earlier called for a 15-year sentence.
Yin has been in jail for several months and faces eight criminal trials, including rebellion and other charges related to martial law. Yoon was sentenced in a Seoul court on Friday to five years in prison for defying attempts to detain him, falsifying martial law and denying some cabinet members the right to review his martial law order.
Yoon, a conservative, has vehemently denied the rebellion charges, saying he was only aiming to attract public support in his fight against the main liberal opposition party that stands in the way of his agenda. Speaking in court on Friday, Yoon denounced the authorities’ conduct of the rebellion investigations as “crazy” and argued they involved “manipulation” and “distortion.”