Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/19/asia/south-korea-yoon-suk-yeol-verdict-insurrection-intl-hnk?cid=ios_app

Seoul, South Korea
—
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after a court found him guilty of leading an insurrection during his short-lived imposition of martial law, which plunged the country into political chaos and threatened to unravel decades of democracy.

The verdict closes a chapter of one of South Korea’s biggest political crises, a saga that has been full of dramatic twists that have tested the country’s democratic guardrails.

On December 3, 2024, Yoon declared martial law in a late-night televised speech, saying there were “anti-state forces” within opposition parties that were sympathetic to North Korea.

Armed soldiers descended on the parliament by helicopter and attempted to storm the chamber where lawmakers were gathered. Shocked and angry citizens, along with lawmakers and parliament staff, rushed to barricade the entrances and fought to block the soldiers from reaching the chamber, in chaotic scenes broadcast live on television.