South Korean court sentences ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol to 5 years in jail over martial law bid
A South Korea court on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in jail over his failed martial law attempt. He was arrested in a second attempt involving more than 3,000 police officers, marking the first ever for a sitting president in South Korea.
Charges against Yoon include obstructing officials from executing an arrest warrant against him in January when he barricaded himself inside his residential compound and ordered the security service to block investigators.
Yoon, who is currently being held in the Seoul Detention Center, also faces allegations of falsifying official documents when he declared martial law in December 2024, claiming he planned to restore democratic order to the country that was under siege from the majority opposition and “anti-state” forces.
Separately, Yoon faces a number of other trials, including on a charge of masterminding insurrection. Prosecutors have asked the court to give him the death sentence on this charge, with a ruling scheduled for February.
