▲ National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik (C) speaks to reporters at the National Assembly in Seoul on Feb. 19, 2026, after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment for his failed bid to impose martial law in 2024. (Yonhap)

Assembly speaker-ex-president

Assembly Speaker Woo urges ex-President Yoon to apologize for martial law bid after life in prison sentence

SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik on Thursday urged former President Yoon Suk Yeol to apologize to the public after the ousted president was sentenced to life imprisonment for his failed bid to impose martial law in 2024.

In the first verdict on Yoon's insurrection charges, the Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon of leading an insurrection through the martial law bid and handed down a sentence lighter than the death penalty recommended by special prosecutors.

"I hope ex-President Yoon repents his wrongdoing and offers a sincere apology to the people," Woo told reporters after the court made the announcement.

Woo stressed that the court's ruling has legally confirmed that the Dec. 3 martial law bid constituted an act of insurrection.

Woo, however, expressed regret that the court took the failed insurrection into account as a mitigating factor, saying Yoon's attempt to impose martial law failed "not because of insufficient preparation but because the National Assembly and people resisted."

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