South Koreas Supreme Court Upholds Former President Yoons 7-Year Prison Sentence

South Korea’s Supreme Court on July 9 upheld a 7-year prison sentence against former President Yoon Suk Yeol for obstructing investigators’ attempts to detain him after he briefly imposed martial law on the country in December 2024.The court upheld an April ruling by the Seoul High Court that found Yoon guilty of infringing on Cabinet members’ 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 detain him weeks after his impeachment.The ruling came after the Seoul High Court increased his prison sentence to seven years from five in April, following its finding that Yoon was guilty of additional charges.There was no misunderstanding of any legal interpretations in the previous court’s ruling, the Supreme Court said in its judgment, in the first case to reach the country’s highest court from Yoon’s several criminal trials.“The lower court’s judgment contained no errors, such as exceeding the bounds of the principle of free evaluation of evidence in violation of logic or the rules of experience, or misapplying the relevant legal principles,” the presiding judge said, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.The Supreme Court also upheld the appeals court’s finding that Yoon was guilty of falsifying documents and failing to follow the legal process required to impose martial law, which must be discussed at a formal cabinet meeting before it is enacted, as well as distributing false materials to foreign media, Yonhap reported.Following the court’s decision, Yoon’s lawyers said they would challenge the ruling in the Constitutional Court.“To protect the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, we plan to challenge the unconstitutionality of this ruling through constitutional adjudication procedures, including a constitutional complaint against the judgment,” his legal team told Yonhap.The Constitutional Court is separate from the Supreme Court and can, in some instances, overrule or revoke Supreme Court verdicts if they are deemed unconstitutional.They further said that, though they respected the court’s decision, they expressed “deep regret that the Supreme Court concluded such a grave case without sufficient deliberation.”“By dismissing the appeal in an unusually hurried manner, even more rushed than ordinary cases, without even referring it to the full bench, the Supreme Court effectively abandoned its function as the highest court of the judiciary. This constitutes insufficient review and the politicization of the judiciary,” Yoon’s lawyers added.Prosecutors, who had sought a 10-year prison term in the case, accused Yoon of abusing his power and hurting the public.Yoon, 65, was also sentenced to life in prison on Feb. 19 after being convicted of the major charges of abuse of authority and orchestrating an insurrection.The conservative politician on Dec. 3, 2024, had attempted to impose martial law but backed down six hours later after the National Assembly—South Korea’s parliament—voted to overturn the decree.He said at the time that he was seeking to protect the constitution because the opposition, which controlled the National Assembly, was sympathetic to communists and North Korea.On June 12, the former president was sentenced to 30 years in prison after the court found him guilty of ordering the flying of drones over Pyongyang, North Korea, in October 2024. The court said he did this in order to provoke the North Korean regime and manufacture a security crisis to use as a pretext for his declaration of martial law.The former president is facing eight trials in total related to the decree, and he and his legal team deny all charges.Convictions of Other Cabinet MembersSeveral other members of Yoon’s government are on trial or have been convicted and sentenced on charges related to the martial law decree.On June 22, former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae was jailed for 25 years after the Seoul Central District Court found him guilty of charges including helping Yoon attempt to impose martial law.Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was also sentenced in January to 23 years in prison for insurrection, but that was later reduced to 15 years.Former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min was sentenced to seven years in prison in February after the court found that he had relayed orders to the police and fire services to cut water and power to media outlets critical of Yoon’s policies.Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun was jailed for 30 years for his role in mobilizing the military to enforce martial law and also received a separate 30-year sentence for his part in planning the drone flights over Pyongyang.His ex-wife, former First Lady Kim Keon Hee, was also sentenced to seven years for accepting luxury items in exchange for political favors on June 26.Victoria Friedman and Reuters contributed to this report.