Live Updates: South Korean Ex-Leader Is Sentenced to Life in Prison

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached after he briefly imposed martial law in 2024, had faced a potential death sentence in the country’s ​biggest criminal trial in decades. Current time inSeoul8:09 p.m. Feb. 19LiveUpdated Feb. 19, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ETLive Updates: South Korean Ex-Leader Is Sentenced to Life in PrisonFormer President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached after he briefly imposed martial law in 2024, had faced a potential death sentence in the country’s ​biggest criminal trial in decades.Share full articleVideoSouth Korea’s Yoon Sentenced to Life in Prison1:05Yoon Suk Yeol, the former president of South Korea, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday for leading an insurrection when he declared martial law in 2024.CreditCredit...Soo-Hyeon Kim/Reuters PinnedUpdated Feb. 19, 2026, 6:02 a.m. ETChoe Sang-HunReporting from SeoulHere’s the latest.Former President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday after being found guilty of leading an insurrection when he declared martial law in 2024 and plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.Mr. Yoon, 65, has been on trial since April on a series of criminal charges stemming from that short-lived martial law declaration. The judges at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ruled on the most serious of them: being the ringleader of an insurrection. Prosecutors had demanded a death sentence.While sentencing Yoon to life imprisonment, presiding Judge Ji Gwi-yeon​ said that Mr. Yoon had “flouted legal procedures and resorted to violent means to try to incapacitate the National Assembly and undermine democratic norms.”Mr. Yoon, who denied the charges against him, has a week to appeal the verdict and ruling.The verdict will offer closure to many South Koreans who are exhausted by the tumultuous period that followed Mr. Yoon’s declaration, a move that threatened decades of democracy they had won through great sacrifice after years of military rule. Protesters opposed to Yoon gathered outside the courthouse on Thursday.But the verdict is unlikely to heal divisions in a deeply polarized country where the former president still has a sizable base of loyal supporters, some of whom also turned up at the courthouse.Mr. Yoon declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024, saying it was necessary to eliminate what he called “anti-state forces” within the opposition-dominated National Assembly. He called the legislature a “den of criminals” who he said used their parliamentary majority power to paralyze his government.His decree banned all political activities and placed the news media under military control. Armed troops raided the National Assembly and the National Election Commission. Prosecutors also accused Mr. Yoon of ordering troops to arrest his political enemies.Public outrage almost immediately scuttled Mr. Yoon’s ​attempt to rule by martial law. As soon as they saw Mr. Yoon declare ​it on TV, citizens rushed to the National Assembly to confront the troops who had come to take over the legislature​ under the president’s orders. While the crowd held the troops back​ to prevent them from seizing its main chamber, lawmakers gathered ​inside and voted down his decree in the middle of the night.Mr. Yoon was forced to withdraw it after six hours.​ But his power grab set off South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades, with its democracy undergoing a stress test as the country impeached the president, arrested those involved in his martial law, and elected a new leader, Lee Jae Myung.​Prosecutors said that what Mr. Yoon and his collaborators did during the short period of martial law was an act of insurrection. Mr. Yoon accused prosecutors of “writing fiction” and said his declaration was a legitimate use of presidential power to alert South Koreans to the danger posed by his enemies in the political left.Here’s what we’re covering:Inmate No. 3617​: Since his latest arrest, Mr. Yoon has been sleeping on a floor mattress in a 70-square-foot jail cell — a world apart from his presidential hilltop mansion. Read more ›Yoon’s Supporters: The former president’s supporters hold frequent rallies in Seoul and call his impeachment “null and void.” They subscribe to a right-wing conspiracy theory​ that South Koreans​ were manipulated by foreign influence, especially from China. Read more ›Historical Echo: Mr. Yoon’s insurrection trial revived memories among many South Koreans of Chun Doo-hwan, the widely reviled dictator who was found guilty of the same charge nearly 30 years ago. Read more ›Show moreFeb. 19, 2026, 5:52 a.m. ETChoe Sang-HunReporting from SeoulBesides Yoon, 5 other former officials get long prison terms.More than 40 senior officials in the government of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol as well as the military and police have been put on trial for criminal charges connected to his imposition of martial law. On Thursday, a three-judge panel at the Seoul Central District Court issued the most consequential ruling, sentencing Mr. Yoon to life imprisonment for masterminding an insurrection.The panel also delivered verdicts on seven other officials, all of whom were indicted on c