The court ruled that former President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, and subsequent actions constituted insurrection under the Criminal Act. It is the first time the judiciary has determined that the Dec. 3 martial law constitutes insurrection.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 33 (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan) held a first-instance sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. on the 21st in Supreme Courtroom 417 for former Prime Minister Han on charges including aiding and abetting the leader of an insurrection and engaging in key duties related to insurrection, and stated accordingly.
The court said, "The proclamation (issued by the former president after declaring martial law) did not follow constitutional procedures, aimed to extinguish parliamentarianism guaranteed by the Constitution, and implemented bans on the press and publication with the purpose of eliminating the functions of the Constitution and the law."
It added, "(Martial law) was issued for the purpose of subverting the constitutional order, and we find that a large number of military and police officials were mobilized to occupy the National Assembly and other places to exercise physical force and to incite a riot that would harm a region."
Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 35 (Presiding Judge Baek Dae-hyun), while hearing the former president's case on charges of "obstructing arrest" on the 16th, found martial law unconstitutional and unlawful but did not link it to the crime of insurrection.
Whether the former president's actions constitute the crime of leading an insurrection under the Criminal Act will be decided on the 19th of next month by Criminal Agreement Division 25 (Presiding Judge Jee Kui-youn. Before that, in former Prime Minister Han's trial that day, the determination came first that martial law constitutes insurrection.
Article 87 of the Criminal Act defines insurrection as "an act of causing a riot for the purpose of excluding state power or subverting the constitutional order in all or part of the territory of the Republic of Korea." For the Dec. 3 martial law to be recognized as insurrection, there must have been the purpose of "subverting the constitutional order," and a "riot" must also be found to have occurred.