South Korea’s Yoon calls court biased after life sentence for rebellion: ‘fight not over’
The former president maintains his short-lived 2024 martial law decree was done ‘solely for the sake of the nation and our people’
Yoon, who was removed from office amid a political crisis set off by his unsuccessful power grab, has long rejected the eight criminal cases brought against him for what prosecutors described as a coup attempt and other allegations.
He barricaded himself in the presidential residence for weeks, stonewalled investigators following his arrest, and skipped court dates, while clashing with witnesses when he did appear.
In handing down his verdict on rebellion charges on Thursday, Judge Jee Kui-youn of the Seoul court said that Yoon had shown “no sign of apology for the staggering social costs incurred by the emergency martial law” and that he “refused to appear in court without any justifiable reason” several times.