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Ex-President Yoon's sentence to life in prison leaves both supporters, opponents unsatisfied

Published: 19 Feb. 2026, 22:36

Police buses are parked near the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Feb. 19, ahead of the court's sentencing hearing for former President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection. A pro-Yoon rally is also pictured in this photo. [NEWS1]

Shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday, the crowd outside the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul fell into a strained silence as the presiding judge's voice crackled through loudspeakers and phone screens.

When the words came — “The court sentences defendant Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment” — they rippled across the police-lined street in Seocho District, southern Seoul.

Some supporters clutching placards reading “Yoon Again” stood stunned while others shouted at the courthouse gates. Across the street, activists who had demanded the death sentence for Yoon raised their arms in frustration. Neither side seemed satisfied or victorious.

Minutes before the verdict, both camps had lowered their flags and banners to listen as the court began delivering its decision in the case against former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, a central figure in Yoon’s botched martial law attempt on Dec. 3, 2024.

Protestors from civic group, the name of which translates to "Candlelight Action," hold a rally to call for a death sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol — after he was sentenced to life in prison on charges including leading an insurrection — near Seocho Station in southern Seoul on Feb. 19. [LEE GYU-RIM]

Even earlier than that, at around 3:42 p.m., the court ruled that the deployment of troops to the National Assembly amounted to violence aimed at undermining the constitutional order. Yoon's supporters shouted that the decision was “cowardly” and spat curses in the direction of the court. Across the police barricades, their opponents clapped and cheered.

When presiding Judge Ji Gwi-yeon explained the reasoning behind the sentence, citing Yoon’s lack of prior convictions and his age — currently 65 — as mitigating factors, tempers flared again.

From the anti-Yoon rally came a shout: “At that age, he’s still in his prime.” The other side replied, “Who was harmed by martial law?”

A civic group, the name of which translates to “Candlelight Action,” organized the anti-Yoon rally, calling for the death penalty, near exit 7 of Seocho Station at 2 p.m. Some lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party took part.

Shortly before the verdict, Rep. Park Ju-min of the DP told the crowd, “On Dec. 3, 2024, citizens pledged to defend democracy with their lives and sat on the asphalt in the winter. This was an insurrection that the people stopped with their own bodies. If we are to restore constitutional order, the court must impose the death penalty.”

A sheet listing the names of 45 People Power Party lawmakers is seen at a rally by a civic group, the name of which translates to "Candlelight Action," calling for a death sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol — after Yoon was sentenced to life in prison on charges including leading an insurrection — in Seoul on Feb. 19. [LEE GYU-RIM]

Kim Ok-soon held up a sheet listing 45 lawmakers from Yoon’s former party, the People Power Party, who opposed his arrest last January.

“The ringleader of an insurrection should receive the death penalty, and the others life imprisonment,” Kim said. “The trial process so far has left me furious and seething. [The defendants] should fear the people.”

Conservative YouTuber Jeon Han-gil speaks at a rally of supporters of former President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Feb. 19. The court sentenced Yoon to life in prison that day. [YONHAP]

Yoon’s supporters, who had lined the three-lane road from the courthouse’s eastern gate to Seoul National University of Education Station since Wednesday, framed the ruling as the opening round of a longer fight.

Jeon Han-gil, a hard-line conservative commentator on YouTube and former Korean history instructor, took the stage after Judge Ji delivered Yoon's sentence.

“The first trial is over. The second and third trials remain,” he said. “What did a president who sought to defend liberal democracy do wrong?”

A young supporter surnamed Park, who came from western Seoul's Yeongdeungpo District, said, “The court should listen carefully to both sides and make a fair judgment, but this feels biased. I will keep coming out to protest and make my voice heard.”

Others circulated petitions to submit to the court and vowed to continue letter-writing campaigns to Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee. The currently detained former first lady was sentenced in January to 20 months in jail for accepting bribes. She faces two additional trials.

Members of a group supporting former President Yoon Suk Yeol collect signatures for a petition to submit to the court near Seoul National University of Education Station in southern Seoul on Feb. 19, after Yoon was sentenced to life in prison on charges including leading an insurrection. [KIM YE-JUNG]

When the judge finished reading the sentence, some in the pro-Yoon crowd wiped away tears and drifted from the scene. Nearby, some in the anti-Yoon crowd climbed onto folding chairs, cheering; flashed peace signs as they posed for photos; and even briefly danced. However, within about 20 minutes, both rallies began to disperse.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency deployed about 1,000 officers and 48 police buses in anticipation of clashes. Officers said they would keep vehicles out of the court complex until midnight and closed several entrances, including the main and north gates.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SON SUNG-BAE,KIM YE-JUNG,LEE GYU-RIM [[email protected]]