Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of leading an insurrection linked to his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.
The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence on February 19, 2026, ruling that Yoon played a leading role in planning the martial law operation and deploying troops to the National Assembly in an attempt to disrupt parliamentary proceedings.
Yoon declared martial law on December 3, 2024, saying it was necessary to deal with what he described as anti-state forces. The declaration lasted approximately six hours before lawmakers voted to overturn it, triggering a major political crisis and widespread protests. Yoon was subsequently impeached and removed from office in April 2025.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the court instead imposed life imprisonment. The judges cited the scale of the constitutional and social disruption caused by the martial law attempt, while also taking into account factors including Yoon’s age, lack of previous criminal convictions and the limited use of physical force.
Yoon has denied wrongdoing and maintained that his actions were within his presidential authority. His legal team has pursued appeals against the various convictions arising from the martial law crisis.
The life sentence is only one part of Yoon’s extensive legal troubles. In July 2026, South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld a seven-year prison sentence for obstructing investigators attempting to arrest him following the martial law declaration. He was also sentenced to 30 years in prison in June over a separate case involving alleged drone infiltrations into North Korea, which prosecutors said was intended to heighten tensions and create a justification for martial law.
As of October 7, 2026, Yoon remains involved in multiple legal proceedings. An appellate court is also due to rule on the same day on a separate case involving allegations that he received free opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun during the 2022 presidential election campaign.
The cases against Yoon have become a major test of South Korea’s democratic institutions and constitutional order following the country’s most serious political crisis in decades.
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