Yoon Suk Yeol
Yoon Suk Yeol was president of South Korea for less than three years and was removed for declaring martial law. Born in Seoul in 1960, the son of an economics professor, he took nine attempts to pass the bar exam and became a prosecutor, building a reputation on corruption cases that respected no party. He led the investigation that convicted Park Geun-hye, a conservative president, and was rewarded by her liberal successor Moon Jae-in with the top prosecutor's post — then investigated Moon's own justice minister and his family, and became the opposition's candidate as a result. He won the presidency in March 2022 by 0.73 per cent, the narrowest margin in Korean history, having never held elected office. He governed against a National Assembly the opposition controlled throughout, which impeached his ministers, cut his budgets and blocked his legislation, and against approval ratings that fell below twenty per cent amid scandals involving his wife. On the night of 3 December 2024 he declared martial law on television, citing anti-state forces and North Korean sympathisers, and sent troops and helicopters to the National Assembly. Legislators climbed fences to get in, and 190 of them voted the decree down within about two and a half hours. He rescinded it before dawn. The Assembly impeached him on 14 December and the Constitutional Court removed him unanimously in April 2025. He was arrested and tried for insurrection, the first sitting Korean president detained in office. Lee Jae-myung, whom he had prosecuted, won the election that followed in June 2025.
- Lived: 1960 CE – ?
- Nationality: South Korean
- Roles: President of South Korea (2022-2025)
