SEOUL, June 23 — South Korea’s former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday after a district court found him guilty of playing a key role in an insurrection through his involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law bid, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence to Park, exceeding the 20-year prison term sought by special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team. The court immediately placed Park in custody, citing concerns that he might destroy evidence.
Cho’s team earlier indicted Park on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection and abusing his power by calling a meeting of senior ministry officials following Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
The court convicted Park on both charges, accepting the special counsel team’s argument that he had called the meeting to review the dispatch of prosecutors to a martial law-supporting body, assess the capacity of correctional facilities, allegedly to hold politicians and key figures expected to be arrested under martial law, and order ministry officials responsible for imposing travel bans to report for duty.
“The defendant ultimately turned his back on his duty of upholding the Constitution at the idea that the insurrection could succeed, choosing instead to take part in it,” the court said.
Park joins other members of Yoon’s Cabinet who have been convicted of playing a key role in an insurrection, including former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
In February, Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection through his short-lived imposition of martial law. He has appealed against the ruling.
Meanwhile, the court dismissed additional charges against Park for violating the anti-graft law, ruling that they did not fall within the special counsel’s investigative mandate.
The special counsel team had indicted Park on charges of giving inappropriate orders to his subordinates in response to a request from Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, in May 2024 to check certain details of the prosecution’s investigation into corruption allegations against her.
Park’s lawyers said they would immediately appeal against the sentence, describing it as “a ruling not supported by the facts or legal principles.”
The special counsel team, however, said the ruling outlined the duty of a justice minister to stop an illegal declaration of martial law and defend the constitutional order, making it unlikely that it would appeal.
