SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – An appeals court in South Korea has sentenced ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to seven years in prison for charges including resisting arrest and bypassing a legally mandated Cabinet meeting before imposing martial law in December 2024. This conviction follows a previous life sentence for rebellion, attributed to his controversial and authoritarian actions, which ignited a severe crisis in the country’s democratic framework.
Judge Yoon Sung-sik of the Seoul High Court stated that the former president improperly convened a select few Cabinet members, falsified documents to cover the absence of two others, and deployed security personnel as a "private army" to counter law enforcement during the tumultuous period following his impeachment. Yoon stood silently as the judgement was announced, offering no comment.
Yoon's legal representation expressed disappointment over the ruling, noting their intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. The former president is also contesting his life sentence linked to rebellion charges based on his aggressive assertion of control. Earlier, a lower court had instilled a five-year sentence for Yoon but had acquitted him of certain abuse of power charges, finding that he was not responsible for the absences of two Cabinet members at the crucial meeting prior to the declaration of martial law.
The Seoul High Court, however, reversed that acquittal, finding Yoon guilty on all counts and ruling that he violated the rights of multiple Cabinet officials. The brief martial law declaration on December 3, 2024, created significant political turmoil, disrupting politics, diplomacy, and causing instability in financial markets. The crisis only began to stabilize after Yoon’s liberal opponent, Lee Jae Myung, triumphed in an early presidential election held in June.
Yoon faced suspension from office on December 14, 2024, following impeachment by a legislature dominated by liberal factions. His formal removal by the Constitutional Court occurred in April 2025. After his suspension, Yoon resisted a Seoul court's order for detention, leading to a standoff where investigators were blocked by security forces at his residence in early January 2025. He was eventually detained later that month, released in March, only to be re-arrested in July.
Following this extended period of legal challenges, Yoon has remained in custody during ongoing trials. On the day prior to the recent ruling, the Seoul High Court also increased the sentence for Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, to four years, due to charges related to accepting luxurious gifts from the Unification Church, which sought favorable treatment from Yoon's administration, as well as her involvement in a stock manipulation scheme.
In a separate case, prosecutors recently sought a 30-year prison term for Yoon, accusing him of deliberately escalating tensions with North Korea in 2024. This occurred as he allegedly ordered drone flights over Pyongyang to create a pretext for declaring martial law domestically. The legal ramifications surrounding Yoon's presidency continue to unfold, marking one of the most turbulent periods in South Korea's recent political history.
