SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - South Korea's impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to life in prison for masterminding an insurrection during his imposition of martial law in the country in late 2024.
A martial law that Yoon Suk Yeol declared on December 3, 2024, alleging that 'anti-state forces' within opposition parties were pro-North Korean, plunged the country into turmoil.
He was forced to repeal the martial law within six hours after protests by the lawmakers, who forced their way into the National Assembly and voted unanimously against it.
Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the parliament on December 14.
He was arrested a month later and was being investigated on charges of insurrection. Yoon Suk Yeol is South Korea's first sitting president to be arrested.
The 65-year-old politician was removed from office in April last year after the country's Constitutional Court unanimously voted to uphold the parliamentary decision.
Delivering his verdict on Thursday, Ji Gwi-yeon, the Presiding judge of the Seoul Central District Court, also found Yoon Suk guilty of abuse of authority, and committing acts to subvert constitutional order.
Kim Yong-hyun, who was the defense minister at the time of imposing the martial law, was also found guilty and faces 30 years in jail.
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