On July 27, the Seoul Central Court sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to 1 year and 6 months in prison, suspending his sentence for 3 years for violating the Law on Civil Servant Election, related to making false statements during the 2022 presidential election campaign.
Xinhua said that the court concluded that Mr. Yoon had spread false information during his campaign, violating the provisions of the Law on Civil Servant Election.
Previously, a special prosecution team led by independent lawyer Min Joong Ki - who is in charge of investigating corruption allegations related to Mr. Yoon and his wife - proposed a 2-year prison sentence for the former President.
According to the provisions of the South Korean Civil Servant Election Law, if an elected candidate is fined from 1 million won (about 680 USD) or more in the final effective judgment for violating the election law, the election result of that person will be declared invalid.
Because Mr. Yoon is no longer in office after being impeached, the sentence will not lead to dismissal. However, if the ruling is upheld after the appeal process, the legality of the results of the 2022 presidential election may be overturned.
In that case, the People's Power Party (PPP) - the party that once ruled when Mr. Yoon was elected and is currently the main opposition party - will have to return about 39.7 billion won (equivalent to 27.1 million USD) of the election expenses that have been returned by the National Election Commission.
According to the indictment, Mr. Yoon was accused of making false statements in an interview in January 2022 when claiming that neither he nor his wife had ever met Jeon Seong Bae, a Shamanist broker. He was also prosecuted for speaking during a December 2021 election debate that he had never introduced a lawyer to the former leader of a local tax authority under investigation for bribery allegations.
This is one of many cases that Mr. Yoon is facing. Previously, in February 2026, the former President was sentenced to life imprisonment related to allegations of rebellion after the decision to declare martial law at the end of 2024. In June 2026, he continued to be sentenced to 30 years in prison in another case related to treason charges, stemming from allegations of letting drones enter North Korean territory.
Mr. Yoon declared martial law on the night of December 3, 2024, but this decision was overturned by the South Korean National Assembly just a few hours later. In January 2025, he was arrested and prosecuted on charges of masterminding the uprising, becoming the first incumbent president in South Korean history to be arrested and prosecuted.
