A South Korean court on Friday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison on charges that included obstructing attempts by authorities to arrest him following his failed bid to impose martial law in December 2024.
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of mobilising the presidential security service to block authorities from executing an arrest warrant to investigate him for his martial law declaration.
In televised proceedings, the 65-year-old former prosecutor was also found guilty of charges that included fabricating official documents and failing to follow the legal process required for martial law, which has to be discussed at a formal cabinet meeting.
The ruling is the first related to the criminal charges Yoon faces over his botched martial law declaration.
"The defendant abused his enormous influence as president to prevent the execution of legitimate warrants through officials from the Security Service, which effectively privatised officials ... loyal to the Republic of Korea for personal safety and personal gain," the lead judge on the three-justice panel said.
Yoon Showed No Reaction
Yoon, his hair streaked with grey, listened intently as the judge delivered the ruling, looking noticeably slimmer than when he first came under investigation a year ago.
He showed no reaction as the sentence was announced in a courtroom packed with many of his supporters.
Speaking outside the court immediately afterwards, one of Yoon's lawyers, Yoo Jung-hwa, said the former president would appeal. "We express regret that the decision was made in a politicised manner," she said.
Prosecutors did not answer questions from reporters about whether they would lodge an appeal, which they are entitled to do under South Korean law.
Prosecutors have asked the court in a separate trial to sentence Yoon to death for masterminding an insurrection by trying to impose military rule without justification and to suspend parliament.
Yoon, who is currently being held in the Seoul Detention Center on the outskirts of the capital, has argued it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and that the action was aimed at sounding the alarm over the obstruction of government by opposition parties.
Tight Security
A few dozen supporters gathered outside the court complex ahead of the hearing, holding signs that said Yoon was the victim of a political witch hunt. "History will be the judge," the placards said, and that Yoon remained the president.
There was a heavy police presence in and around the court that is only a few blocks from Yoon's upscale apartment in Seoul.
Yoon could have faced up to 10 years in jail over the obstruction charges related to when he barricaded himself inside his residential compound in January last year and ordered the security service to block investigators.
He was finally arrested in a second attempt involving more than 3,000 police officers. Yoon's arrest was the first ever for a sitting president in South Korea.
Parliament, joined by some members of Yoon's conservative party, voted within hours to overturn his surprise martial law decree and later impeached him, suspending his powers.
He was removed from office in April last year by the Constitutional Court, which ruled he violated the duties of his office.
While Yoon's bid to impose martial law lasted only about six hours, it sent shockwaves through South Korea, which is Asia's fourth-largest economy, a key U.S. security ally and long considered one of the world's most resilient democracies.
Yoon is the latest in a series of South Korean presidents who have been convicted and imprisoned, including former general Chun Doo-hwan who was sentenced to death in 1996 for a brutal crackdown on mass protests in Gwangju in 1980. Chun's sentence was later commuted and he was pardoned after serving two years in jail.
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