00:00A South Korean court has ordered life in jail for former President Yoon Sook Yul
00:05after holding him guilty on charges of abuse of authority and masterminding an insurrection.
00:12This stems from his December 2024 attempt to impose martial law.
00:21Prosecutors had sought the death penalty in the case, closely watched in a deeply divided country.
00:26It is the most consequential yet for the ousted leader,
00:31whose bid triggered a national political crisis and tested democratic resilience.
00:36In January, prosecutors had said Yoon's unconstitutional and illegal emergency martial law
00:43undermined the function of the National Assembly and the Election Commission,
00:47actually destroying the liberal democratic constitutional order.
00:52Masterminding an insurrection carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty
00:56or life imprisonment under South Korean law.
01:00South Korea last handed down a death sentence in 2016,
01:04but has not executed anyone since 1997.
01:07South Korea last97.
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