South Korea Jails Former Justice Minister for 25 Years Over Failed Martial Law Insurrection

The Seoul Central District Court has sentenced South Korea’s former Justice Minister, Park Sung-jae, to 25 years in prison for his active role in the brief, disastrous declaration of martial law by ousted ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol in late 2024.

Park was found guilty of heavy involvement in "insurrection" and gross "abuse of power." He was immediately taken into state custody following the high-profile ruling, drawing a sentence that actually surpassed the 20-year prison term initially sought by state prosecutors.

The judicial panel outlined that as the nation's chief law enforcement officer during the crisis, Park weaponized his institutional authority to directly support the unconstitutional decree rather than defending the rule of law:

• Anticipating Mass Arrests: Prosecutors proved that in the frantic, early morning hours following Yoon's late-night televised address, Park convened an emergency meeting of justice ministry officials. During this session, he explicitly ordered staff to review prison capacities nationwide to ensure the state could handle the mass detention of anti-government figures and opposition politicians.
• Ignoring Internal Dissent: Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan noted that Park intentionally ignored multiple warnings raised by his own subordinates during that midnight meeting regarding the blatant illegality of the martial law decree.
• The Judicial Rebuke: In delivering the lengthy sentence, Judge Lee stated:

"Due to the actions of the defendant, the country nearly faced a situation in which the people's fundamental rights and the basic order of liberal democracy could have been violated. The defendant reduced the law to a tool of insurrection."

The 25-year sentence handed to Park Sung-jae is part of a sweeping judicial purge targeting the inner circle of the disgraced Yoon administration. The chaotic December 2024 martial law attempt lasted just six hours before lawmakers scaled the parliament's walls to vote it down, sparking massive public protests that triggered Yoon's subsequent impeachment and total removal from office.