Ex-South Korean president remains defiant following life sentence for rebellion

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday remained defiant in his first reaction to a life sentence for rebellion handed down by a Seoul court the previous day.

In a statement released by his lawyers, Yoon maintained that his abrupt and short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024 was done “solely for the sake of the nation and our people,” and dismissed the Seoul Central District Court as biased against him.

Yoon, who was removed from office amid a political crisis set off by his unsuccessful power grab, has long rejected the eight criminal cases brought against him for what prosecutors described as a coup attempt and other allegations.

He barricaded himself in the presidential residence for weeks, stonewalled investigators following his arrest, and skipped court dates, while clashing with witnesses when he did appear.

In handing down his verdict on rebellion charges on Thursday, Judge Jee Kui-youn of the Seoul court said that Yoon has shown “no sign of apology for the staggering social costs incurred by the emergency martial law” and that he “refused to appear in court without any justifiable reason” several times.

Conservative supporters of the former president, who rallied near the court for hours ahead of the verdict, expressed disappointment and anger after it was announced, while his opponents cheered in nearby streets, the two groups separated by hundreds of police officers. There were no major clashes.

Yoon's statement rejected the verdict as illegitimate.

“In a situation where the independence of the judiciary cannot be guaranteed and a verdict based on law and conscience is difficult to expect, I feel deep skepticism whether it would be meaningful to continue a legal battle through an appeal,” said Yoon, 65, who has been jailed since last July.

Yoo Jeong-hwa, one of Yoon’s lawyers, said Yoon was “merely expressing his current state of mind” and was not indicating an intention to waive his right to appeal. Yoon has seven days to appeal Thursday’s sentence.

In his statement, Yoon expressed sympathy to the families of soldiers, police officials and public servants facing investigations or indictment in connection with his martial law decree, saying he feels responsible for their suffering. But he also assured his supporters “our fight is not over.”

The court found Yoon guilty of orchestrating a rebellion by mobilizing military and police forces in an illegal bid to seize the liberal-led legislature, arrest political opponents and establish unchecked rule for an indefinite period. Yoon has described his authoritarian push as necessary to counter the opposition-controlled legislature, which he portrayed as made up of “anti-state” forces.

Yoon could also face an appeal brought by an independent counsel, who asked the court to sentence him to death and have the right to ask a higher court to change the sentence. Jang Woo-sung, a member of the investigation team, told reporters after the ruling that the team has “reservations" regarding the court’s factual findings and the severity of the sentence.

The Seoul court also convicted and sentenced five former military and police officials involved in enforcing Yoon’s martial law decree. They included ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure, mobilizing the military and instructing military counterintelligence officials to arrest key politicians, including current liberal President Lee Jae Myung. Kim has appealed.

Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the conservative People Power Party, said at a news conference Friday that the court failed to present a convincing case that Yoon’s martial law amounted to rebellion and, referring to a possible appeal, stressed that “the right to be presumed innocent applies to everyone without exception."

Yoon’s martial law decree, announced late at night on Dec. 3, 2024, lasted about six hours, after a quorum of lawmakers broke through a military blockade and unanimously voted to overturn it, forcing his Cabinet to lift the measure.

Yoon was suspended from office on Dec. 14, 2024, after being impeached by lawmakers and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He has been facing multiple criminal trials under arrest, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe punishment.

While brief, Yoon’s martial law decree set off the country’s most severe political crisis in decades, paralyzing politics and high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets. The power vacuum was resolved after Lee won an early election in June last year.