A Seoul court has sentenced former South Korean Justice Minister Park Sung-jae to 25 years in prison, after finding him guilty of playing a key role in an insurrection linked to former President Yoon Suk-yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024. The sentence, handed down by the Seoul Central District Court on Monday, exceeded the 20-year term sought by the special counsel's team. The court immediately remanded Park into custody, citing concerns he might destroy evidence.
The conviction centres on events surrounding Yoon's declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024, when the then-president attempted to sideline the opposition-controlled parliament, accusing it of maintaining ties with North Korea and obstructing government policy. The martial law lasted only a few hours: despite a military blockade, lawmakers managed to reach the assembly chamber and passed a resolution overturning it. Park was found guilty of convening a meeting of senior ministry officials during the crisis to organise the dispatch of prosecutors to a martial-law-supporting body, assess prison capacity in preparation for the potential mass arrest of opposition figures, and direct officials responsible for issuing travel bans to report for duty. The court stated that Park "ultimately turned his back on his duty of upholding the Constitution at the idea that the insurrection could succeed, choosing to instead take part in it." Park denied all charges, maintaining he was carrying out duties appropriate to "a national emergency."
Park's lawyers said they would immediately appeal the ruling, calling it unsupported by facts or legal principles. The special counsel's team, by contrast, indicated it was unlikely to appeal, saying the judgment clearly defined a justice minister's constitutional obligations.
The case is the latest in a series of convictions stemming from the martial law episode. Yoon himself was sentenced to life imprisonment in February for leading the insurrection and has appealed. He received an additional 30-year sentence for allegedly ordering drone flights over the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, in an attempt to manufacture tensions that would retroactively justify the martial law declaration. Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was sentenced on appeal to 15 years for his role in the crisis, while former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun received three years for leaking classified information in the days before the declaration.
The breadth of the convictions underscores the severity with which South Korean courts have treated the December 2024 crisis, which briefly threatened the country's democratic institutions and sent shockwaves through one of Asia's most stable democracies.