South Korea top court upholds Yoon Suk Yeol's seven-year jail term

Seoul,UPDATED: Jul 9, 2026 12:34 IST

South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the first of several criminal cases linked to his brief imposition of martial law in 2024 to reach the country's highest court. The ruling brings finality in this case, while Yoon remains in detention and continues to fight other convictions and trials arising from the same political crisis.

The court upheld an April ruling by the Seoul High Court, which found Yoon guilty of violating Cabinet members' right to deliberate before he declared martial law, falsifying the official proclamation to hide that lapse and later destroying the document, and using presidential security forces to illegally resist law enforcement efforts to arrest him weeks after his impeachment. Yoon did not attend the hearing.

Martial law lasted only a few hours before lawmakers forced their way through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and police at Seoul's Assembly and voted to repeal it, forcing Yoon's Cabinet to lift the measure. Though brief, the declaration pushed South Korea into a political crisis that paralysed politics and high-level diplomacy and shook financial markets. The turmoil eased only after his liberal rival, Lee Jae Myung, won an early presidential election in June 2025.

The Supreme Court's ruling was in line with the Constitutional Court's findings when it removed Yoon from office in April 2025. That court had said his martial law decree had no legal basis and did not follow required procedures. According to the case record, Yoon called 11 Cabinet members to his office shortly before declaring martial law on late-night television on December 3, 2024. However, several participants, including then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, testified that Yoon told them of his decision instead of inviting discussion. The Seoul High Court also said Yoon violated the rights of nine other Cabinet members by not calling them to the meeting or informing them too late.

In a statement, Yoon's legal team expressed "deep regret" over the Supreme Court's ruling and said the justices had concluded a significant case without sufficient review. Yoon is still on trial in other cases and has appealed the life sentence he received in the most serious one, on the charge of rebellion. He is also appealing a 30-year prison term in a case that accuses him of ordering drone flights in 2024 to deliberately raise tensions with North Korea and create conditions to justify martial law at home. His lawyers said the drone flights were a response to North Korea sending thousands of trash-carrying balloons into the South.

In sum, the Supreme Court has now finalised one key case against Yoon over his 2024 martial law declaration, while other major cases against him, including those linked to rebellion and drone flights, remain under appeal or trial.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends