The ruling on February 19, 2026 was issued 14 months after Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol unexpectedly declared martial law on December 3, 2024, on the grounds of "eliminating anti-state forces". However, this decision was rejected by the National Assembly after only 6 hours of emergency vote.
In a nationwide live broadcast trial, Judge Jee Kui Youn said it is difficult to deny that Mr. Yoon "intentionally paralyzed the activities of the National Assembly for a significant period of time" by mobilizing soldiers to blockade the National Assembly building and trying to arrest key politicians. The court also argued that the deployment of troops in that context constituted acts of rebellion.
According to the Korean Constitution, rebellion is defined as an act aimed at depriving the state of power in part or all of its territory, or inciting riots with the aim of overthrowing constitutional order.
The court emphasized that the imposition of self-imposed martial law does not naturally constitute a crime of rebellion, but in this case, the accusation was made because the defendant was accused of trying to invalidate the operation of a constitutional body.
The panel of judges held that Mr. Yoon played the role of mastermind, directly planning and attracting many people to participate. The court assessed that the state of emergency caused by the martial law order created a "very large social price", while the defendant hardly expressed remorse.
However, the court did not accept the special prosecutor's death request. The life sentence was considered lighter than the highest proposed level. The jury noted that the plan was not fully prepared, the level of use of force was limited, Mr. Yoon had no prior convictions, had served in the state apparatus for many decades and is currently 65 years old.
On the same day, 7 other defendants also received first-instance sentences. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Former Director General of the National Police Cho Ji Ho was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while former Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong Sik was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role related to martial law efforts.
Previously, Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 5 years in prison in a separate case, related to allegations of obstructing the investigation force when trying to arrest him last year.
The trial on February 19 took place in the same courtroom that witnessed former President Chun Doo Hwan being sentenced to death in 1996 for his role in the 1979 coup and the military's crackdown on the Gwangju democratic movement in 1980.
The ruling against Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol marks a major turning point in modern South Korean political history, closing a turbulent chapter that began with the short but deeply controversial martial law declaration at the end of 2024.
