Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. As Yoon arrived in court, hundreds of police officers watched closely as Yoon supporters rallied outside a judicial complex, their cries rising as the prison bus transporting him drove past. Yoon, a staunch conservative, has defended his martial law decree as necessary to stop liberals, whom he described as "anti-state" forces, from obstructing his agenda with their legislative majority. Yoon was suspended from office on December 14, 2024, after being impeached by lawmakers and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. Last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.

Source: The Telegraph February 19, 2026 08:53 UTC