Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on December 15, 2025, on insurrection charges and allegations that he tried to provoke military aggression from North Korea, deepening a political crisis that began with his failed martial law declaration in December 2024.
Martial law collapse
Yoon triggered the crisis on December 3, 2024, when he declared martial law in a late-night televised address, citing what he called a national emergency caused by “anti-state forces” in the opposition-led National Assembly.
The move suspended political activity and press freedoms, and troops were deployed to block lawmakers from entering parliament. Lawmakers quickly voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to back down within hours.
Arrests and removal
Yoon was first arrested on January 15, 2025, becoming South Korea’s first sitting president to be arrested after investigators scaled barricades and cut through barbed wire to take him into custody.
He was then briefly released on March 8 after a court cancelled the initial warrant, and arrested again on July 10 after the Constitutional Court removed him from office in April.
Once ousted, he lost presidential immunity and remained subject to criminal prosecution.
Prosecutors’ allegations
Special prosecutor Cho Eun-seok said Yoon and his military allies had been plotting martial law since before October 2023, and that the plan was designed to eliminate political rivals and consolidate power.
Investigators said Yoon ordered provocative operations against North Korea, including drone flights over Pyongyang and unauthorized artillery strikes, to create a wartime pretext for emergency rule. They also alleged he ordered troops to occupy the National Election Commission and sought to detain rival lawmakers, including Han Dong-hun, while calling him a “communist” and threatening to have him shot.
Election fallout
Yoon’s removal triggered a snap presidential election in June 2025, which Lee Jae-myung won for the Democratic Party. The vote came six months after Yoon’s martial law attempt and marked the end of his presidency.
What comes next
Yoon faces charges including insurrection, abuse of power and obstruction of justice, and remains in a solitary cell at the Seoul Detention Center. A court sentenced him to five years in prison on January 16, 2026, in the obstruction-related case, and prosecutors later appealed that ruling.
The main insurrection trial is expected to continue into 2026, with the possibility of life imprisonment or the death penalty if he is convicted of leading an insurrection
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