SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A former South Korean justice minister was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday 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 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. 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, the court said.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.
Judge Lee Jin-gwan said Park abandoned his responsibility to uphold the country’s Constitution and law by taking part in Yoon’s authoritarian push.
