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A monitor in Seoul Station plays a livestream of the court’s ruling in the insurrection trial of former President Yoon Suk-yeol on Feb. 19, 2026. (Yonhap)

A South Korean court has sentenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol to life in prison for leading an insurrection, and sentenced former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun to 30 years in prison for aiding in the attempted self-coup. These sentences came 444 days after Yoon’s fateful decision to declare martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.

In its decision Thursday, the Seoul Central District Court said that Yoon, who was charged with leading an insurrection, had “caused immense harm to society” with his declaration of martial law.

“There are no indications that the defendant has made any apology; indeed, he has refused to even appear in court,” said Judge Jee Kui-youn, who presided over the case.

But the court made allowances for Yoon’s “restraint in the exercise of physical force” and his “apparent lack of a meticulous plan.”

Because of those extenuating circumstances, the court sentenced Yoon to life in prison, rather than giving him the death sentence, which had been requested by prosecutors.

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol (second from left, back) and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun (second from left, front) stand as the Seoul Central District Court reads its verdict in their insurrection trials on Feb. 19, 2026. (still from courtroom live stream)

Regarding Kim’s 30-year prison sentence, the court noted that he “was instrumental in making preparations for martial law.”

Yoon was charged with conspiring with Kim, among others, to make an unconstitutional and unlawful declaration of martial law and to violently overthrow the constitutional order by having the police and military seize control of the National Assembly and the National Election Commission and arrest and detain major political figures without warrants.

Prosecutors led by Cho Eun-seok, a special counsel assigned to investigate the martial law crisis, had asked that Yoon be sentenced to death in their final arguments on Jan. 13.

By Lee Na-young, staff reporter

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