Ex-South Korean President Yoon Sentenced to Five Years in Prison Over Failed Martial Law Move

By Staff, Agencies

A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison in connection with his failed attempt to impose martial law.

Yoon was arrested last year during a second effort involving more than 3,000 police officers, marking the first time a sitting South Korean president had been detained.

The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of ordering the presidential security service to obstruct authorities from carrying out a court-approved arrest warrant issued as part of an investigation into his martial law declaration.

The court also convicted him on additional charges, including falsifying official documents and failing to follow the legal procedures required to impose martial law.

Friday’s ruling is the first court judgment stemming from the criminal cases related to Yoon’s aborted martial law bid.

In a televised verdict, the presiding judge said Yoon had misused the extensive powers of the presidency by directing security officials to block the execution of lawful warrants, effectively turning public servants sworn to the Republic of Korea into a private force for his own protection.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after the decision, Yoon’s attorney, Yoo Jung-hwa, said the former president would challenge the ruling on appeal.

She criticized the verdict as politically motivated and expressed regret over the court’s decision.

Yoon still faces a separate trial in which he could receive the death penalty on charges of orchestrating an insurrection by declaring martial law without legal justification.

Yoon has maintained that declaring martial law fell within his presidential authority and said the move was intended to warn against what he described as obstruction of governance by opposition parties.

He was removed from office in April last year after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated the constitutional duties of the presidency.