3 months ago
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South Korea’s jailed erstwhile president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has appealed his life sentence for rebellion implicit his brief imposition of martial law successful December 2024, his lawyers said connected Tuesday (February 24, 2026).
The blimpish leader, who faces aggregate trials implicit his powerfulness grab, expressed defiance pursuing his condemnation astatine the Seoul Central District Court past week. He called the determination illogical, said his actions were “solely for the involvement of the federation and our people,” and accused the justice of being biased against him.
In a substance message, Yoon’s lawyers said they aimed to code the expected “errors successful fact-finding and misinterpretations of the law” contained successful past Thursday’s (February 19) ruling. The lawsuit volition present beryllium sent to a specialised sheet astatine a Seoul High Court established nether a instrumentality passed successful December to grip cases involving rebellion, treason and overseas subversion.
“We volition ne'er beryllium soundless astir what we presumption arsenic an excessive indictment by a peculiar prosecutor, the contradictory judgement rendered by the little tribunal based connected that premise, and its governmental circumstances,” Yoon’s ineligible squad said.
Yoon’s martial instrumentality decree, announced precocious astatine nighttime connected December 3, 2024, lasted astir six hours until a quorum of lawmakers broke done a blockade of heavy equipped soldiers and constabulary astatine the National Assembly. They past voted to overturn it, forcing his Cabinet to assistance the measure.
Yoon was suspended from bureau connected December 14, 2024, aft being impeached by the liberal-led legislature and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court successful April 2025. He was re-arrested successful July and present faces 8 transgression trials implicit the martial instrumentality debacle and different allegations, with the rebellion complaint carrying the heaviest punishment.
Though brief, Yoon’s martial instrumentality decree triggered the country’s astir terrible governmental situation successful decades, paralysing authorities and high-level diplomacy and rattling fiscal markets. The turmoil eased lone aft his wide rival Lee Jae Myung won an aboriginal statesmanlike predetermination past June.
Yoon has claimed that his martial instrumentality decree was a ineligible and indispensable enactment of governance against liberals controlling the legislature, portraying them arsenic “anti-State” forces paralysing State affairs by impeaching high-level officials, cutting his budgets and obstructing his agenda.
But the Seoul Central District Court said Yoon’s actions amounted to orchestrating a rebellion, ruling that helium mobilised troops and constabulary successful an unlawful bid to prehend the legislature, apprehension governmental opponents and found unchecked regularisation for a “considerable time.”
A peculiar authoritative who investigated Yoon’s rebellion charges had sought the decease penalty, saying helium deserved the harshest punishment nether the instrumentality fixed the menace his actions posed to the country’s democracy.
Following past week’s ruling, Jang Woo-sung, a subordinate of the peculiar prosecutor’s probe team, hinted that they intended to appeal, saying they had unspecified “reservations” astir immoderate of the court’s factual findings and the severity of the sentence.
South Korea has not executed a death-row inmate since 1997, successful what is wide seen arsenic a de facto moratorium connected superior punishment and fashionable calls for its abolition.
Yoon is the archetypal erstwhile South Korean president to person a beingness condemnation since precocious subject dictator Chun Doo-hwan, who was sentenced to decease successful 1996 for his 1979 coup, a bloody 1980 crackdown connected pro-democracy protesters successful Gwangju that near much than 200 radical dormant oregon missing, and corruption. The Supreme Court aboriginal reduced Chun’s condemnation to beingness imprisonment, and helium was released successful precocious 1997 nether a peculiar statesmanlike pardon.
