Former South Korean Justice Minister Park Sung-jae has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after a court found him guilty of helping ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol carry out his brief imposition of martial law in 2024.
The Seoul Central District Court handed down a heavy punishment for Park, which surpassed the 20-year prison term sought by special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team. The court immediately placed Park under custody, citing concerns that he may destroy evidence.
Cho’s team earlier indicted Park on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection and abusing his power by calling a meeting of senior ministry officials following Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
The court convicted Park on both charges, recognizing the special counsel team’s argument that Park had called the meeting to review dispatching prosecutors to a martial law-supporting body, check the capacity of correctional facilities, allegedly to hold politicians and key figures expected to be arrested under the martial law, and order ministry officials in charge of imposing travel bans to report for work.
The Seoul Central District Court said it was clear Park Sung-jae played a key role in Yoon’s attempted power grab following the declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, including ordering ministry officials to assess detention capacities at correctional facilities to prepare for possible arrests of politicians.
The court said that Park also instructed officials to review dispatching state prosecutors to Yoon’s martial law command to support its operations and have related immigration authorities stand by for possible travel ban impositions.
It declared that Park ultimately turned his back on his duty of upholding the Constitution “at the idea that the insurrection could succeed, choosing to instead take part in it.”
The abuse of authority charges were also upheld.
“Even if someone violated unconstitutional or illegal decrees, they could not be subject to travel bans or arrest without due process. However, Park made immigration and correctional officials perform tasks beyond their legal duties, such as responding to travel ban requests and securing detention space.”
Seoul Central District Court
It also recognized as abuse of authority the charge that after the failure of the martial law, Park had Ministry of Justice officials create documents justifying the emergency martial law to counter Yoon’s impeachment and the insurrection investigation.
The court added, “Park’s actions were aimed at achieving the core prerequisites to suppress Yoon’s political opponents and neutralize the National Assembly’s authority to lift martial law.” It further stated that even after the insurrection failed, instead of revealing the truth and taking responsibility, Park prepared measures to counter Yoon’s impeachment and investigation. “In court, he changed his statements whenever objective evidence emerged and did not show sincere reflection,” it said.
Park had denied the charges, saying he was merely carrying out duties required during a national emergency. Park’s lawyers didn’t immediately say whether they would appeal.
Meanwhile, the court dismissed additional charges against Park for violating the anti-graft law, ruling that it did not fall under the special counsel’s investigation mandate. The special counsel team had also indicted Park on charges of giving inappropriate orders to his subordinates in line with a request from Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, in May 2024, to check certain details of the prosecution’s investigation into her corruption allegations.
Yoon’s martial law, which followed a yearslong standoff with liberals controlling the legislature, lasted only about six hours before lawmakers broke through a blockade of soldiers Yoon dispatched to the National Assembly and voted to overturn it, forcing Yoon’s Cabinet to lift the measure.
Yoon was impeached and suspended from office on Dec. 14, 2024, before being formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He was arrested in July 2025, and multiple criminal trials are ongoing. The Seoul court earlier sentenced Yoon to life in prison on rebellion charges. In a separate case, Yoon received a 30-year term for allegedly ordering drone flights over Pyongyang in October 2024 to manufacture tensions with North Korea and justify declaring martial law at home. Yoon has appealed both verdicts.
Latest Of Yoon’s Cabinet To Get Jail Term Over Martial Law Imposition
Park is the latest of several members of Yoon’s Cabinet to receive prison sentences for their roles in the martial law imposition.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun received a 30-year term for his central role in mobilizing the military to enforce martial law and seeking the arrests of Yoon’s political opponents, as well as a separate 30-year sentence for planning drone flights over Pyongyang.
Ex-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was initially sentenced to 23 years on charges that included attempting to lend procedural legitimacy to Yoon’s decree by securing its approval through a formal Cabinet meeting, but an appeals court later reduced his sentence to 15 years.
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