The Supreme Court of South Korea confirmed this Thursday the sentence of seven years in prison imposed on former president Yoon Suk Yeol for a crime of obstruction of justice, in the context of the process opened by his controversial order to declare martial law in December 2024. Said order was later revoked and led to his departure from office.
"The ruling of the first instance court did not contain errors, such as exceeding the limits of the principle of free assessment of evidence in contravention of logic or the rules of experience, or misapplying the relevant legal principles," the court indicated in its ruling.
The session was broadcast live, despite protests from Yoon himself and his decision not to attend, as reported by the South Korean agency Yonhap. This pronouncement comes after, in April, an appeals court increased the sentence initially set by a district court by two years, although without reaching the ten years requested by the Special Prosecutor's Office.
The Supreme Court's ruling, which Yoon's defense has already announced it will appeal again, is the first issued by this instance against the former leader, who is involved in eight criminal proceedings linked to the declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. The central case refers to a charge of insurrection for which he was already sentenced to life imprisonment.
The martial law proclaimed in December 2024 was rendered ineffective a few hours later thanks to the intervention of the National Assembly, which approved a resolution demanding its withdrawal. In the following weeks, lawmakers voted to impeach him, and in April 2025, the Constitutional Court confirmed his definitive dismissal.
In addition to these proceedings, the former South Korean head of state has accumulated an additional sentence of 30 years in prison for endangering national security by sending combat drones to North Korea in 2024. In parallel, his wife, Kim Keon Hi, also imprisoned, has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption offenses.