Former South Korean Justice Minister Park Sung-jae has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed declaration of martial law in December 2024.
The Seoul Central District Court on Monday found Park guilty of participating in an insurrection, according to a recording of the judgment shared online.
Yoon’s late-night declaration of martial law lasted only about six hours before lawmakers rushed to the National Assembly and voted to overturn it during an emergency session.
The former president has since been convicted of leading an insurrection and remains in detention while appealing a life sentence. Earlier this month, he was also sentenced to 30 years in prison for allegedly sending drones into North Korea to manufacture a national security crisis to justify the imposition of martial law.
Prosecutors said Park convened a meeting of Justice Ministry officials shortly after the declaration and ordered checks on prison capacity in preparation for the possible arrest of anti-government figures.
Delivering the judgment, presiding judge Lee Jin-gwan said Park’s actions brought South Korea close to a situation in which citizens’ fundamental rights and the country’s democratic order could have been severely undermined.
“As justice minister, the defendant ignored concerns raised during the meeting about the illegality of the December 3 insurrection,” the judge said.
Although prosecutors had requested a 20-year prison term, the court imposed a harsher 25-year sentence, ruling that Park had abused his office by turning the justice system into “a tool of insurrection” and undermining the rule of law.
Park, who had been standing trial while free on bail, was taken into custody immediately after the verdict.
Yoon’s surprise televised announcement of martial law triggered one of South Korea’s worst political crises in decades. The move sparked nationwide protests, rattled financial markets and caught key allies, including the United States, by surprise.
Several senior officials in Yoon’s administration have also received lengthy prison terms over their roles in the failed martial law plot.
Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is serving a 15-year sentence, while former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min was jailed for nine years.
Last week, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun was sentenced to three years in prison for leaking classified military information in connection with the insurrection.
Meanwhile, Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, is serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted in a separate case involving stock manipulation and bribery.
