South Korean court sentences former president to life in prison
Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president, attends a hearing for his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(SEOUL)– The Seoul Central District Court sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison Thursday.
The court found him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
The court ruled that Yoon’s central offense was mobilizing military and police forces to seize control of the National Assembly and detain key political figures.
“The deployment of martial law troops to the National Assembly during the state of emergency constitutes ‘rioting,’ a key legal element required to establish the crime of insurrection,” presiding judge Ji Gui-yeon said Thursday. Ji said declaring martial law can constitute insurrection if intended to obstruct or paralyze constitutional institutions.
The court acknowledged political tensions between Yoon’s administration and the opposition-controlled legislature. However, it said those circumstances did not justify declaring martial law under the constitution.
Judges also said Yoon showed no remorse or acknowledgment of wrongdoing during the proceedings, which they considered in determining his sentence.
Yoon’s attorneys criticized the ruling as “a mere formality for a predetermined conclusion.”
“Watching the rule of law collapse in reality, I question whether I should even pursue an appeal or continue participating in these criminal proceedings,” Yoon’s attorney, Yoon Gab-geun, told reporters after the ruling. “The truth will be revealed in the court of history.”
Yoon was taken into custody immediately after the ruling and transferred to the Seoul Detention Center. He will remain there unless the court grants release pending appeal.
If Yoon appeals, the case will move to the Seoul High Court, which can review legal interpretations and factual findings. A final appeal could be filed with the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing Yoon’s actions posed a grave threat to the constitutional order.
Thursday’s ruling addressed only the insurrection charge. Other criminal cases tied to the December 2024 martial law declaration, including abuse of power and obstruction of official duty, remain pending.
In a separate case last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing his arrest, the first criminal conviction tied to the crisis.
“Yoon’s sentencing does not represent a national catharsis since most Koreans have already emotionally moved on from the former president,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told ABC News. “Nor does this televised verdict mark closure because many cases and appeals related to Yoon’s martial law debacle have yet to be fully adjudicated.”
Grizzly bears, Grinder and Coola are seen at their habitat at the Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on June 12, 2020. Grouse Mountain attracts 1.3 million visitors a year. (Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(BELLA COOLA, British Columbia) — Eleven people, including children, were injured in a grizzly bear attack that occurred in the small, remote community of Bella Coola in British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, according to regional and local officials.
On Thursday at 1:46 p.m., officials said received a call about an animal attack along a trail in Bella Coola, with two ambulances and a community paramedic responding to the scene.
Seven people were treated at the scene and four patients were transported to the hospital, according to the Provincial Health Services Authority.
The British Columbia Conservation Office Service, which was deployed to the scene along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said three children were among the injured.
Acwsalcta School, an independent school in Bella Coola run by the Nuxalk Nation, said it will be closed Friday due to the “bear incident,” adding that “it’s hard to know what to say during this very difficult time.”
The victims were part of a school group of students and teachers who stopped along a trail near the river when a grizzly bear emerged from the forest and attacked. Multiple teachers physically intervened, using bear spray and a bear banger, to drive the bear away, the BCCOS said on Friday.
Four patients remain in the hospital as of Friday, officials said.
“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we wish them a full and speedy recovery,” said BCCOS Insp. Kevin Van Damme said in a statement.
Nuxalk Nation said the animal “has still not been found” after warning of an “aggressive bear” in the Four Mile subdivision, a forested and residential area in the Bella Coola Valley where Acwsalcta School is located.
Preliminary information suggests the offending bear may have been previously injured, officials said.
Officials also urged people in the area to stay indoors, warning them to not go looking for the bear and to “not go down any trails.”
British Columbia is home to an estimated 15,000 grizzly bears, which makes up more than half of the total grizzly population in Canada, according to a 2012 assessment and status report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(LONDON and KYIV, Ukraine) — The Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, confirmed there is a “preliminary agreement” for U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff — and likely Jared Kushner — to visit Moscow next week, as the White House claims momentum toward a possible Ukraine-Russia peace plan.
“As for Witkoff, I can say that a preliminary agreement has been reached that he will visit Moscow next week,” Ushakov said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin for the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin,” broadcast on Wednesday.
“We have agreed to meet with Mr. Witkoff. I hope he will not come alone, but will be accompanied by other representatives of the American team who are working on the Ukrainian dossier, and then we will begin discussions,” Ushakov added.
Witkoff, Ushakov said, will “definitely” meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin if he comes to Moscow next week.
The interview came after Bloomberg published excerpts of a recording of purported phone call between Witkoff and Ushakov, in which Trump’s envoy appeared to offer guidance on how Putin should present the Kremlin’s plan to end the war to Trump.
Ushakov appeared to confirm the call happened but declined to comment. Ushakov also alleged that the leak was intended to undermine the ongoing peace efforts.
“I speak with Witkoff quite often, but I do not comment on the substance of our conversations because they are confidential. No one should comment on them, actually,” he said.
The reported leak was “probably” intended to “hinder” discussions, Ushakov said. “It is unlikely that this is being done to improve relations. They are now being established, with difficulty, through contacts of this kind, including by telephone.”
Ushakov denied that Russia leaked the call. “Someone is leaking them, someone is listening in, but it’s not us,” he said.
Trump had already told reporters on Tuesday that his envoy would travel to Russia. “Now, Steve Witkoff is going over maybe with Jared. I’m not sure about Jared going, but he’s involved in the process, smart guy, and they’re going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe, next week in Moscow,” he said.
Pressed on the Bloomberg report and concerns that Witkoff was too sympathetic to Russia’s maximalist war goals, Trump replied, “No, but that’s a standard thing, you know, because he’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what he’s, that’s what a deal maker does.”
“You got to say, look, they want this. You’ve got to convince him with this. You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation. I haven’t heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation, and I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take,” Trump added.
Asked whether Witkoff was “too pro-Russia,” Trump did not answer directly. He instead said that a deal would be beneficial for both sides, while appearing to talk up Russia’s military capabilities.
“I think, look, this war could go on for years, and Russia’s got a lot more people, a lot more soldiers,” Trump said. “So I think if Ukraine can make a deal, it’s a good thing. I think it’s great for both. Frankly, I think it’s great for both.”
Weekend talks in Geneva, Switzerland, saw American, European and Ukrainian officials meet to discuss the controversial U.S.-backed peace plan proposal put to Kyiv last week, with terms critics say would have constituted a Ukrainian capitulation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week the blueprint “could also form the basis for a final peace settlement,” and suggested it aligned closely with the outcomes of his meeting with Trump in Alaska in August.
On Monday, a Ukrainian official close to the matter told ABC News that the original 28-point draft had been revised down to 19 points after the Geneva talks, with both American and Ukrainian representatives framing the Geneva talks as productive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the Geneva talks produced a “framework,” adding Kyiv is “ready to move forward together — with the United States of America, with personal engagement of President Trump, and with Europe.”
“I am ready to meet with President Trump,” Zelenskyy continued. “There are sensitive points to discuss,” he said.
After the Geneva meetings, a U.S. delegation held additional talks with Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. A U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday, “The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal … There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”
A source familiar with the discussions confirmed to ABC News that Ukraine agreed to the new 19-point peace plan during the talks in Geneva, not in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump did not elaborate on which issues are still to be agreed with Kyiv. “Standard things,” Trump said when asked. “But people are starting to realize it’s a good deal for both parties if they got to stop the war, they’re losing a lot of people, a lot of soldiers, mostly soldiers.”
Pressed about Ukraine ceding land to Russia, Trump hinted at land swaps and called the overall process “complicated” and said it “doesn’t go that quickly.”
Trump also did not say what concessions Moscow is being asked to make. “They’re making concessions. They’re big concessions. You say stop fighting, and they don’t take any more land again,” the president said.
As to future security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump said the issue is being discussed with European countries. “Europe will be largely involved in that,” he said. “We’re working that out with Europe. Europe really wants to see it end, if possible.”
Moscow is yet to officially comment on the new 19-point plan. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Tuesday that “if the spirit and letter of Anchorage are removed in terms of the key understandings that we have established, then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation.”
In his interview with Zarubin broadcast on Wednesday, Ushakov said the new plan was “passed on to us,” as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. But the Kremlin aide added that the plan “hasn’t been discussed in detail with anyone yet.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, told reporters on Wednesday it is “too early to say” that the warring parties may be nearing a deal, according to Tass.
(NEW YORK) — U.S. Southern Command announced on Monday that its forces conducted a new airstrike against an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing two people aboard and leaving one survivor.
SOUTHCOM said in a statement posted to X that it “immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor.”
The statement was accompanied by video of the strike.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said, noting that the strike was launched at the direction of commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan.
Monday’s operation is the 38th airstrike conducted by U.S. forces since Sept. 2. The killings bring to 130 the number of people killed in these strikes.
