SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� South Korea鈥檚 Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol to reach the country’s highest court from his several criminal trials related to his brief imposition of martial law in 2024.
The court upheld by the Seoul High Court that found Yoon guilty of infringing on Cabinet members鈥� right to deliberate before he declared martial law, falsifying the official proclamation to cover up the lapse before later destroying the document, and deploying presidential security forces to illegally resist law enforcement efforts to arrest him weeks after his impeachment.
before lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and police at Seoul鈥檚 National Assembly and voted to repeal it, forcing Yoon鈥檚 Cabinet to lift the measure.
Yoon remains in detention and did not attend the ruling, which is final. He is still standing trial in other cases, and the life sentence he received for the most serious conviction against him, on the charge of rebellion.
In a statement, Yoon鈥檚 legal team expressed 鈥渄eep regret鈥� over the Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling, saying the justices concluded a significant case without sufficient review.
The ruling aligned with the views of the which, in removing Yoon from office in April 2025, found that his martial law decree lacked legal grounds and failed to follow required procedures.
While Yoon called 11 Cabinet members to his office shortly before declaring martial law on late-night television on Dec. 3, 2024, several participants, including then- have testified that Yoon unilaterally informed them of his decision rather than inviting deliberation. The Seoul High Court said Yoon also violated the rights of nine other Cabinet members by failing to call them to the meeting or notifying them too late.
Though brief, Yoon鈥檚 martial law declaration plunged South Korea into a political crisis, paralyzing politics and high-level diplomacy while rattling financial markets. The turmoil eased only after his liberal rival, won an early presidential election in June 2025.
In addition to appealing his life sentence for rebellion, Yoon is appealing a in a case accusing him of ordering drone flights in 2024 to deliberately heighten tensions with North Korea and create justifiable conditions for at home. Yoon鈥檚 lawyers said the drone flights were a response to North Korea flying thousands of .
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