Former South Korean leader sentenced to 5 years in prison in first martial law verdict

• The judge finds Yoon guilty of obstruction of justice and other crimes.
• A separate sedition verdict is scheduled for February 19.
• Yoon faces another trial over alleged drone flights in North Korea.

SEOUL: A South Korean judge sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other crimes linked to the disastrous declaration of martial law and its chaotic aftermath.

It is the first in a series of verdicts for the disgraced former leader, whose brief suspension of civil rule in South Korea on December 3, 2024 sparked mass protests and a showdown in parliament.

Now ousted from power, he faces multiple trials for actions taken during that disaster and in the turmoil that followed.

On Friday, Judge Baek Dae-hyun at the Seoul Central District Court said he found Yoon guilty of obstructing justice by preventing investigators from detaining him.

Yoon was also found guilty of excluding cabinet members from a martial law planning meeting.

“Despite the fact that he had a duty, above all else, to uphold the Constitution and uphold the rule of law as president, the defendant displayed an attitude that disregarded the … Constitution,” Baek said.

“The defendant’s guilt is extremely serious,” he said.

But Yoon was found not guilty of falsifying official documents due to lack of evidence, the judge said.

Yun has seven days to appeal, he added.

Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year prison sentence, while Yoon had insisted no laws were broken.

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It comes days after prosecutors in a separate case called for Yoon to be sentenced to death for his role as the “leader of a rebellion” in orchestrating the imposition of martial law.

They argued that Yun deserved the harshest possible punishment as he had shown “no remorse” for actions that threatened “constitutional order and democracy”.

If found guilty, it is highly unlikely that the sentence will actually be carried out, as South Korea has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.

Yoon was seen smiling in court as prosecutors asked for the punishment.

And the former leader and top prosecutor remained defiant, saying the declaration of martial law was a legitimate exercise of his presidential power.

In his closing remarks on Tuesday, he insisted that “the exercise of the president’s constitutional emergency powers to protect the nation and uphold constitutional order cannot be considered an act of rebellion.”

He accused the then opposition party of imposing an “unconstitutional dictatorship” through their control of the legislature.

“There was no other choice but to awaken the people, who are the sovereign.”

The court is scheduled to rule on the riot charges on February 19.

Yoon also faces a separate trial on charges of aiding the enemy, over allegations he ordered drone flights over North Korea to bolster his case for martial law.