A court in Seoul convicted another high-ranking politician of abuse of power in connection with martial law, which was declared at the end of 2024.
A Seoul court on Monday sentenced former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, who played a key role during the short-lived martial law, to 25 years in prison. This was announced at the end of 2024 by former president Jun Sok-yol, now sentenced to life in prison. TASR informs about this according to the reports of the AFP and Jonhap agencies.
Park Sung-jae was found guilty of participating in the “insurrection,” Jonhap reported, citing the Seoul Central District Court.
Martial law and its abolition
Juno’s martial law lasted only six hours, as MPs managed to vote to lift it. Then, at that time, he called a meeting of Justice Ministry officials to check prison capacity in case authorities arrested anti-government figures, prosecutors said in the indictment.
As justice minister, he “ordered cooperation with the martial law command, provided the order takes effect,” the ruling said.
Penalties for other politicians
The prosecutor’s office demanded a sentence of 20 years for the ex-minister on the grounds that “by abusing power, he turned the law into an instrument of rebellion and threatened the rule of law.” Since he showed no remorse, the court gave him a five-year longer sentence.
In addition to Jun and Pak, South Korean courts have already sentenced former Prime Minister Han Tok-su to 15 years and ex-Minister of the Interior I Sang-min to nine years in prison under martial law.
