Overview
- A Seoul district court on Monday sentenced former justice minister Park Sung‑jae to 25 years in prison for insurrection and abuse of power and ordered his immediate detention because judges said there was a risk he could destroy evidence.
- The court said Park organized a late‑night Justice Ministry meeting after the Dec. 3, 2024 martial law decree to check prison detention capacity for possible arrests, to ready immigration for travel bans, and to review dispatching prosecutors to a martial law command.
- Judges found Park also ordered subordinates to draft documents aimed at retroactively legitimizing the unlawful decree and rejected his claim that he was only carrying out duties in a national emergency.
- The court dismissed a separate charge that Park improperly answered questions from former first lady Kim Keon Hee on the grounds that the allegation fell outside the special counsel's mandate.
- Park's sentence is the latest in a string of convictions tied to the six‑hour 2024 martial law attempt, courts have handed heavy penalties to other senior aides and the former president, appeals and additional probes such as questioning of ex‑prosecutor‑general Shim are continuing and could extend legal and political fallout.