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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Raphael Rashid in Seoul

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol jailed for life for leading insurrection

A woman holds a sign supporting Yoon Suk Yeol
A supporter of Yoon Suk Yeol outside the court in Seoul on Thursday. Photograph: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

A South Korean court has sentenced the former president Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment with labour over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, finding him guilty of leading an insurrection and making him the first elected head of state in the country’s democratic era to receive the maximum custodial sentence.

The Seoul central district court found that Yoon’s declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024 constituted insurrection, carried out with the intent to disrupt the constitutional order.

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