# South Korea Declares Martial Law **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111 "2024-12-03T14:09:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/121 "2025-04-04T04:19:48Z")
[I started another thread specifically for the constitutional court’s ruling.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-yoon-removed-from-office/1016598) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/122 "2026-01-21T08:49:49Z")
[Update due to recent news.](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/politics/20260121/ex-pm-han-duck-soo-sentenced-to-23-years-in-prison-in-martial-law-case) > [@](#): > > A Seoul court sentenced former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison on Wednesday over his involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, finding Han guilty of aiding an insurrection and playing a central role in its execution. > > The ruling marked the judiciary’s first explicit determination on whether the martial law declaration constituted an act of insurrection. The decision is expected to heavily influence the ongoing trial of the former president, for which a verdict on insurrection charges is scheduled for next month. > > The jail term for Han was heavier than the special prosecution’s earlier request of 15 years. Han was taken into custody immediately following the ruling. _There is more at the link._ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/123 "2026-01-21T14:31:44Z")
What a refreshing development. Would that … ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/124 "2026-02-18T08:09:14Z")
_I just posted this in the accompanying thread about former president Yoon’s trial._ From today’s [_The Korea Herald_](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10677773): > [@](#): > > Korea’s Seoul Central District Court is set to deliver its verdict Thursday as to whether former President Yoon Suk Yeol led an insurrection through his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. The ruling will define the legal meaning of the crisis and the scale of punishment that could follow. > > The court’s Criminal Division will rule at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 443 days after Yoon’s late-night decree triggered Korea’s most severe constitutional turmoil in decades. The hearing will be broadcast live. The prosecution is hoping for a particular sentence. > [@](#): > > Korea’s Seoul Central District Court is set to deliver its verdict Thursday as to whether former President Yoon Suk Yeol led an insurrection through his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. The ruling will define the legal meaning of the crisis and the scale of punishment that could follow. > > The court’s Criminal Division will rule at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 443 days after Yoon’s late-night decree triggered Korea’s most severe constitutional turmoil in decades. The hearing will be broadcast live. > > On Wednesday, Yoon’s legal team said he will attend the sentencing, dismissing speculation of his absence, having previously missed multiple trial sessions. His lawyers added that no additional written submissions are planned. > > Special counsel prosecutors have pointed to Yoon as the leader of an insurrection under Article 87 of the Criminal Act and have sought the death penalty. > > Under the statute, the leader of insurrection faces death or life imprisonment. Article 87 defines insurrection as an uprising aimed at excluding state authority or disrupting the constitutional order within Korean territory. > > If the court finds that Yoon led an insurrection, the sentencing range effectively narrows to those two penalties, making severe punishment unavoidable. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/125 "2026-02-18T08:13:39Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Under the statute, the leader of insurrection faces death or life imprisonment. [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lneakytcjaqtx6fsvlsvo2yv/bafkreibnsssj4igmms5go25ifmszzw3p5x2bpcil3xsfskwqpyrbej5kyq@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lneakytcjaqtx6fsvlsvo2yv/bafkreibnsssj4igmms5go25ifmszzw3p5x2bpcil3xsfskwqpyrbej5kyq@jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/126 "2026-02-18T23:17:23Z")
Since I don’t recognize the person in the image, please clue me in to the context. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/127 "2026-02-18T23:20:21Z")
The text on the picture is the context. I have no idea who it is either - some TV preacher, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/128 "2026-02-18T23:28:03Z")
It’s Gordon Robertson from “The 700 Club.” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/129 "2026-02-19T13:44:31Z")
To complete the story, Yoon has been sentenced to life imprisonment > **[South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol jailed for life for leading...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/19/yoon-suk-yeol-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-leading-insurrection-in-south-korea?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other)** > > Ex-leader sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour over failed martial law declaration in 2024 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/130 "2026-02-19T14:21:58Z")
One hopes the story stays complete. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/131 "2026-02-19T22:25:55Z")
[Check out my post in the accompanying thread about his impeachment.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-yoon-removed-from-office-south-korea/1016598/24) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/132 "2026-02-24T03:41:01Z")
[He’s appealed the sentence.](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/politics/20260224/ex-president-yoon-suk-yeol-appeals-life-sentence-in-martial-law-case) > [@](#): > > Former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday appealed his life sentence for leading an insurrection linked to his 2024 declaration of martial law. > > The filing came five days after the Seoul Central District Court convicted the former leader of leading an insurrection in connection with his brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. > > “We believe we bear a responsibility to clearly place on record the flaws in this judgment, not only before the court but also before history,” Yoon’s legal team said in a statement. “Under that responsibility, we will set out the errors in fact-finding and misapplications of laws in the first-instance ruling.” The appeal goes to the Seoul High Court. If that court upholds the sentence, then he has a final appeal to the Supreme Court, the same court which approved his removal from office by the National Assembly. The National Assembly only has one chamber so the impeachment process does not follow the same path as in the United States. If the National Assembly votes to impeach, the Supreme Court then determines the validity of the removal from office. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/133 "2026-06-12T06:31:23Z")
[Yoon gets another 30 years in prison for sending drones into the North.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/jailed-south-korea-ex-president-032809182.html) > [@](#): > > A South Korean court has sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in jail for sending drones into North Korea. > > Prosecutors argued that Yoon ordered the operation in October 2024 to provoke Pyongyang and create a pretext for his failed martial law bid later that year. > > When Yoon declared martial law on 3 December, he had claimed he was protecting the country from “anti-state” forces that sympathised with North Korea. But it soon became clear he was driven by domestic troubles and he rolled back the order in the face of mass protests. > > Yoon was impeached and is now serving time in prison after he was sentenced to life for insurrection over his botched martial law attempt. > > On Friday, the Seoul District Court found Yoon, as well as his former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun, former head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung and former head of Drone Operations Commands Kim Yong-dae guilty of treason and abuse of power. > > Kim was sentenced to 30 years in jail, while Yeo received 15 years and Kim Yong-dae received three years in prison with a five-year suspended sentence. > > “The defendants used the guise of a military operation to induce provocations from North Korea with the aim of creating a state of emergency,” the court said. > > It added that all three officials had “provoked North Korea”, thus “increasing the risk of a military conflict”, but concluded that Yoon bore the “greatest responsibility” in this event. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111/134 "2026-06-12T06:33:38Z")
[![](https://miro.medium.com/v2/1*Irqbz57ypBnuGTuqmbkBXw.jpeg) ](https://miro.medium.com/v2/1*Irqbz57ypBnuGTuqmbkBXw.jpeg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-declares-martial-law/1011111.md?page=6)