Life cycle: Yoon Seok-yeol became the fifth convicted president of South Korea
A Seoul court has put an end to the most high—profile political trial of the decade - the former president of the Republic of Korea, Yun Seok-yel, was found guilty of leading an insurgency. Despite the demands of the prosecutor's office to sentence the politician to death, the court settled on life imprisonment. Yun Seok-yeol has already become the fifth convicted leader in the country's recent history. Experts believe that this is an act of "victors' justice." At the same time, such instability at the top of government has almost no effect on the republic's foreign policy and economic stability. About why the ex-leaders of South Korea so often end up behind bars — in the Izvestia article.
The verdict of the former president of South Korea
On February 19, 2026, the Seoul Central District Court found the former President of the Republic of Korea, Yun Seok-young, guilty of leading an insurgency due to his attempt to impose martial law on December 3, 2024. The prosecutor's office requested the death penalty, but the court settled on a life sentence.
He considered that the actions of Yun and his entourage went beyond the presidential powers and were aimed at paralysis of state institutions. Then, in December 2024, the president deployed the military and police to disrupt the work of parliament and prevent deputies from lifting the martial law regime he had imposed.
Broadcast of the sentencing of former South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol from the Seoul Central District Court building
The court decision also affected key figures in his administration, who also received impressive sentences. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was sentenced to 30 years in prison, former Prime Minister Han Dok-soo received 23 years, and former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min will spend seven years behind bars for his role in the events of that night.
It is worth noting that the verdict in the rebellion case was not the only one for Yun: on January 16, 2026, the same court sentenced him to five years in prison in another case related to the events that occurred after December 3. At that time, the politician was charged with obstructing attempts to detain, forgery of documents and gross procedural violations. In addition, the investigation made accusations of trying to provoke a military conflict with the DPRK in order to create a pretext for the imposition of martial law, including an order to launch a drone strike on Pyongyang in October 2024.
Portrait of former South Korean President Yoon Seok-young at a rally of his supporters outside the Seoul Central District Court
The reason for the rebellion was a protracted conflict between the President and the Assembly, which escalated after the April 2024 elections, when the opposition won almost two-thirds of the seats. Yoon Seok-yeol complained about "parliamentary tyranny" and budget blocking, while the opposition pressed him over bills on a special prosecutor to investigate allegations against the first lady. When, a week before the crisis, the opposition passed a significant reduction in government spending through the committee, the administration considered it a declaration of war.
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The current crisis has not affected relations with the DPRK. The South's domestic policy does not overlap with bilateral relations with the North, Konstantin Asmolov, a leading researcher at the ICSA RAS Center for Korean Studies, told Izvestia. Since 2023, the DPRK has finally abandoned the unification paradigm, consolidating the existence of two hostile states.
"There are two hostile states on the Korean peninsula, and the DPRK does not want to communicate with the South, regardless of who is in power: the conservatives, whom it considers open enemies, or the Democrats, who, according to its interpretation, want the same thing, but "mask it with hypocrisy," the expert noted.
Government crises do not have a direct impact on the country's economy and foreign policy, said Lyudmila Zakharova, a leading researcher at the Center for Korean Studies at the ICSA RAS. The problems with economic growth in South Korea are related to other processes. For example, demographic problems, labor market peculiarities, as well as debt and housing burden.
— This is a high-profile domestic political case. Yes, this is the first time in modern times that a former president has been so harshly sentenced for such a plot. But there have been cases before when former presidents were given very serious sentences, including long terms, on corruption charges. Therefore, I would not look for a connection between the verdict and economics or foreign policy," the expert noted.
However, despite the absence of external consequences, the president's actions have become a landmark event for South Korea's domestic policy for many reasons.
The problem with corruption in South Korea
Unlike in previous episodes, when martial law was imposed in the country, this time there were no casualties, Asmolov stressed. And it is possible that this factor allowed the former leader to avoid the death penalty.
Anyway, Yoon Seok-yeol became the next leader of South Korea, whose career ended with a prison sentence. Since the transition to democracy in the late 1980s, the country has been living under a specific "presidential curse." The model of one five-year term without the right to re-election was conceived as a protection mechanism against dictatorship, but in the end it created a rigid cycle in which each president quickly turns into a "lame duck", and the new administration inevitably initiates investigations against the predecessor.
Pardoned former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak
The historical list of convicted leaders is impressive: In the second half of the 1990s, Jong Doo Hwan and Roh Tae Woo went to jail. Later, other leaders were involved in corruption cases. Former president Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide in 2009 amid an anti-corruption investigation, Lee Myung-bak received 15 years in prison in 2018 and was pardoned only in 2022. Former head of state Park Geun-hye was also sentenced to 20 years after the impeachment in 2017, but was released in 2021.
Yoon Seok-yeol's life sentence has become a new chapter in this endless chronicle of the struggle for power and justice in Seoul. The fact that a significant number of presidents have been in prison, and often for corruption, is a definite detail of political culture, Konstantin Asmolov emphasized.
Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye at a polling station during voting in the parliamentary elections. The year 2024
— And this is not so much a fight against corruption as a fight for corruption. Whoever comes to power and announces a campaign against corruption and "social evil" then finds himself involved in corruption scandals, sometimes more prominent than those he fought against, the expert noted.
Yun was once elected precisely as the prosecutor general, known for fighting corruption. But his shortcomings as an unprofessional politician eventually outweighed and led to an attempt to impose martial law, the expert concluded.
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