South Korea’s Yoon apologises after receiving life sentence over martial law decree

Former South Korean presidentYoon Suk Yeol apologised for declaringmartial law in the country, a day after he was sentenced to life for it.

In the statement on Friday, Yoon said it was difficult to accept the logic of the Seoul Central District Court’s ruling that “troops going to the National Assembly amounted to insurrection”.

Yoon insisted his actions, including deploying troops to the parliament to prevent lawmakers from overturning his decree, were aimed at “saving the nation”.

The former leader was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after he was found guilty of rebellion and abuse of authority over his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty.

“My judgment and decision to declare martial law on 3 December was solely for the country and the people,” Yoon said in the statement released via his legal team. “While it was a decision to save the nation, I deeply apologise to the people for making you experience much despair and suffering due to my shortcomings.”

Yoon, 65, had previously denounced the charges against him as politically motivated.

In the latest statement, Yoon said he stood by the “sincerity and purpose” of his actions from 2024.

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On Thursday, however, judge Jee Kui Youn said that he found Yoon “guilty of rebellion for mobilising military” and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the opposition-controlled National Assembly, arrest politicians, and assume unchecked power for a “considerable” time.

The judge said that Yoon had shown “no sign of apology for the staggering social costs incurred by the emergency martial law” and “refused to appear in court without any justifiable reason” several times.

The ruling made Yoon the first former South Korean leader to receive the maximum jail term.

Yoon’s martial law declaration plunged the country into deep uncertainty and triggered street protests, though it ended after six hours when MPs regained control of the National Assembly.

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At that time, Yoon claimed he took that step because of “anti-state forces” and a threat from North Korea. The former president argued that he had the constitutional authority to declare martial law as a counter to what he called obstruction of his administration by opposition parties.

On Friday, Yoon claimed the ruling against him was an act of political retaliation. “Forces that seek to smear a decision made to save the nation as an ‘insurrection’ and to use it beyond political attacks as an opportunity to purge and eliminate their opponents will only grow more rampant going forward,” he said.

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Meanwhile, a prosecutor expressed some “regret” over the sentencing but declined to say whether they planned to appeal.

Yoon was given seven days to appeal. Last month, Yoon’s wife, the former first lady Kim Keon Hee, was sentenced to 20 months in prison after she was found guilty of accepting bribes in return for political favours. It was also not clear from Yoon’s statement whether he would appeal the ruling.

“In a situation where the independence of the judiciary can’t be guaranteed and a verdict based on law and conscience is difficult to expect,” the former leader said, “I feel deep scepticism whether it would be meaningful to continue a legal battle through an appeal”.

Yoon has been jailed since last July. He has already received five years in jail on separate charges. After Thursday’s sentencing, he still faces six more trials.

Yoo Jeong Hwa, one of Yoon’s lawyers, said the former leader was “merely expressing his current state of mind” and that it was not a sign he was waiving his right to appeal.