Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, currently serving a life sentence for rebellion over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024, has filed an appeal, his legal team confirmed Tuesday.
Yoon, a conservative leader facing multiple criminal trials over his power grab, expressed defiance following last week’s conviction at the Seoul Central District Court. He called the ruling illogical, maintained that his actions were “solely for the sake of the nation and our people,” and accused the judge of bias.
In a statement via text, Yoon’s lawyers said they aim to address what they consider “errors in fact-finding and misinterpretations of the law” in the December 19, 2026 ruling. The case will now be sent to a specialized panel at the Seoul High Court, established under a December 2025 law to handle cases involving rebellion, treason, and foreign subversion.
“We will never be silent about what we view as an excessive indictment by a special prosecutor, the contradictory judgment rendered by the lower court based on that premise, and its political circumstances,” Yoon’s legal team said.
Martial Law and Political Crisis
Yoon’s martial law decree, announced late on December 3, 2024, lasted roughly six hours until lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and police at the National Assembly. The legislature voted to overturn it, forcing Yoon’s Cabinet to lift the measure.
He was suspended from office on December 14, 2024, after impeachment by the liberal-led legislature and formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He was re-arrested in July 2025 and currently faces eight criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe potential penalty.
The decree triggered South Korea’s most severe political crisis in decades, paralyzing governance, disrupting high-level diplomacy, and unsettling financial markets. Stability returned after liberal rival Lee Jae Myung won an early presidential election in June 2025.
Yoon maintains that the decree was a legal and necessary measure against a legislature he described as “anti-state,” obstructing governance through impeachment of officials, budget cuts, and political interference.
However, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that Yoon orchestrated a rebellion, mobilizing troops and police unlawfully to seize the legislature, arrest political opponents, and establish unchecked rule for a “considerable time.”
Historical Context
The special prosecutor had sought the death penalty, citing the severe threat Yoon posed to South Korea’s democracy. South Korea has not executed a death-row inmate since 1997, effectively maintaining a moratorium on capital punishment.
Yoon is the first former South Korean president to receive a life sentence since military dictator Chun Doo-hwan, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 Gwangju crackdown, and corruption. Chun’s sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment, and he was released under a special presidential pardon in late 1997.
