The Seoul Central District Court sentenced former justice minister Park Sung-jae to 25 years in prison on Monday for his role in the December 2024 martial law declaration, convicting him of involvement in “insurrection” and ordering his immediate detention. The sentence exceeded the 20-year term sought by prosecutors, who had argued that Park reduced the law to a tool of rebellion and posed a challenge to the rule of law.

Presiding judge Lee Jin-gwan stated that Park’s actions nearly brought the country to a situation where the people’s fundamental rights and the basic order of liberal democracy could have been violated. According to the verdict, Park convened justice ministry officials in the early hours after the martial law order, assessed prison capacity for potential arrests of anti-government figures, and instructed cooperation with the martial law command on the assumption that the decree would be effective. Prosecutors maintained that he had shown no remorse and had abused his power to support the insurrection.

The martial law declaration by then-president Yoon Suk-yeol on 3 December 2024 lasted only six hours before the National Assembly voted to revoke it in an emergency session. Yoon was later convicted of leading an insurrection and sentenced to life imprisonment; he remains in detention while appealing. He also received a 30-year term this month for sending drones to North Korea to manufacture a national security crisis as a pretext for the decree. The episode triggered a political crisis, mass protests and a stock market plunge, and caught key allies including the United States off guard. Viewed from Moscow, the Kremlin described the situation as alarming.

Park’s sentencing adds to a series of convictions of Yoon’s subordinates. Former prime minister Han Duck-soo is serving 15 years, former interior minister Lee Sang-min nine years, and former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun three years for revealing classified military information in furtherance of the insurrection. Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, is serving a four-year term for unrelated stock manipulation and bribery. Legal observers in Seoul note that the court’s decision to exceed the prosecution’s request signals that Park was assessed as a key figure in the insurrection attempt. The dossier remains active as Yoon’s appeal proceeds and further legal challenges are expected.