Life sentence for Yoon’s insurrection

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment in a first-instance ruling on charges of insurrection. The Criminal Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Ji Gui-yeon, determined that the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law amounted to an insurrection that violently undermined the core principles of democracy. Identifying Yoon as the ringleader, the court imposed a life sentence. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was handed a 30-year prison term for playing a central role in executing key elements of the insurrection.

Coming after last year’s decision by the Constitutional Court to remove Yoon from office, the life sentence effectively draws judicial accountability over the martial law declaration to a broad close, 443 days after the incident.

The trial court squarely rejected Yoon’s claim that the declaration of martial law was a lawful exercise of presidential authority intended to counter what he characterized as extreme obstruction by the opposition. It concluded that he sought to cripple National Assembly proceedings, including a vote to lift martial law, by deploying troops to blockade the legislature, thereby revealing a clear intent to subvert the constitutional order.

The court also determined that sending armed troops to seize control of the National Assembly and occupy the National Election Commission amounted to rioting, concluding that the Dec. 3 martial law declaration clearly constituted insurrection. In assessing the central elements of the case, the ruling aligns with earlier verdicts involving former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, reinforcing the judiciary’s consistent view that the declaration satisfied the legal threshold for insurrection.

In explaining the severity of the sentence, the court emphasized that mobilizing the military and police forces undermined their political neutrality and caused profound distress among public officials. It noted that the misguided decision of the commander in chief and head of government exposed numerous soldiers and civil servants to public mistrust, weakened confidence in the legitimacy of superior orders and imposed considerable social costs.

The reasoning mirrors a warning issued in Han’s case that an “insurrection from above” poses dangers even greater than those of a conventional military coup.

That another former president has been sentenced to life imprisonment, 30 years after former President Chun Doo-hwan, is a national tragedy. However, Yoon committed a grave offense that aimed to roll back the country’s democratic progress by half a century, and he sought to evade responsibility through sophistry, deflection and legal maneuvering. Even in his final statement, he made provocative remarks, asking how “such a fool” could possibly carry out a self-coup.

Absent any sincere reflection or apology, there was little basis for clemency. The first-instance verdict stands as the judiciary’s unequivocal judgment on the former president.