Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday on multiple charges related to his martial law declaration. The ruling, televised live, was the first judicial decision addressing Yoon’s responsibility linked to the imposition of military rule on Dec. 3, 2024. Judges at the Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon on charges including infringement of ministers’ constitutional right to deliberate on the imposition of martial law, aggravated obstruction of the execution of a lawful warrant and the fabrication and destruction of official documents. The court stressed that emergency martial law is an “extremely exceptional” measure that may only be invoked when there is no other way to overcome a national crisis. “The fact that the Constitution specifically requires deliberation on a declaration of martial law is meant to prevent abuse of presidential power and to check unilateral decision-making. So the president must, even more than in ordinary Cabinet meetings, listen carefully to the views of all Cabinet members and act with great caution,” Ju