Plan B Forum

South Korean Ex-Leader Is Sentenced to Life in Prison

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday after being found guilty of leading an insurrection when he declared martial law in 2024 and plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.

Mr. Yoon, 65, has been on trial since April on a series of criminal charges stemming from that short-lived martial law declaration. The judges at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ruled on the most serious of them: being the ringleader of an insurrection. Prosecutors had demanded a death sentence.

Mr. Yoon denied the charges against him. He has a week to appeal the verdict and ruling.

South Koreans met the specter of military rule again when Mr. Yoon declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024. He said it was necessary to eliminate what he called “anti-state forces” within the opposition-dominated National Assembly. He called the legislature a “den of criminals” who he said used their parliamentary majority power to paralyze his government.

His decree banned all political activities and placed the news media under military control. Armed troops raided the National Assembly and the National Election Commission. Prosecutors also accused Mr. Yoon of ordering troops to arrest his political enemies.

Public outrage almost immediately scuttled Mr. Yoon’s ​attempt to rule by martial law. As soon as they saw Mr. Yoon declare ​it on TV, citizens rushed to the National Assembly to confront the troops who had come to take over the legislature​ under the president’s orders. While the crowd held the troops back​ to prevent them from seizing its main chamber, lawmakers gathered ​inside and voted down his decree in the middle of the night.

Mr. Yoon was forced to withdraw it after six hours.​ But his power grab set off South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades, with its democracy undergoing a stress test as the country impeached the president, arrested those involved in his martial law, and elected a new leader, Lee Jae Myung.

​Prosecutors said that what Mr. Yoon and his collaborators did during the short period of martial law was an act of insurrection. In ​separate rulings in recent weeks, two ​other panels of judges at the Seoul Central District Court have agreed, sentencing the former prime minister and home minister to 23 years and seven years in prison, respectively, on charges of collaborating with Mr. Yoon.

Mr. Yoon accused prosecutors of “writing fiction” when they accused him of committing insurrection. His declaration, he said, was a legitimate use of presidential power to alert South Koreans to the danger posed by his enemies in the political left.

U.K. Police Arrest Former Prince Andrew Over Epstein Ties, BBC Reports

The police in Britain arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, over suspicions of misconduct in public office following accusations that he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy, according to the BBC.

Thames Valley Police said in a statement that it had “arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.”

The police did not name the suspect, as is normal under British law, but the details provided in the police report match what is known about the public misconduct allegations. The police were seen on Thursday morning at the Sandringham residence where Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor is currently living.

While Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Mr. Epstein, the convicted sex offender, have been known for years, and resulted in his being stripped of his royal titles last year, the investigation opens up a new chapter in his public fall from grace.

Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied wrongdoing.

In a statement released on Feb. 9, before the police investigation into the allegations was announced, Buckingham Palace said that if King Charles III or the palace were approached by the police “we stand ready to support them as you would expect.”

The statement added that Charles had “made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.”

While Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor had already been accused of sexual offenses, a new tranche of documents released by the Department of Justice on Jan. 30 included a number of emails that suggested he may have shared confidential documents when working as a British trade envoy.

In one email, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor appears to forward to Mr. Epstein official reports about visits he made as envoy to South Asia in 2010, that were sent to him by his assistant.

Previously, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Mr. Epstein’s victims, said that the financier had trafficked her to Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor around 2001, when she was a teenager, and that he had sex with her multiple times.

Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied Ms. Giuffre’s accusations and has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Mr. Epstein.

Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday morning.

In 2022, he paid Ms. Giuffre an undisclosed sum to settle a lawsuit in a New York court in which she said he had raped and sexually abused her when she was 17. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor did not admit to any of Ms. Giuffre’s accusations against him in the statement announcing the settlement.

The latest tranche of documents revealed his continuing communications with Mr. Epstein long after he had claimed to have severed ties with him.

After the latest release of files, Republic, a British anti-monarchy group, filed two reports with the Thames Valley Police accusing Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor of “suspected misconduct in public office and breach of official secrets.”

Graham Smith, Republic’s lead campaigner, said that the onus was on the police to act swiftly to investigate, as it had in the case of Peter Mandelson, a senior British politician with a long and close friendship with Mr. Epstein, the extent of which also came to light in the latest documents.

Mr. Mandelson, a senior figure within the Labour Party and the former British ambassador to the United States, is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police in London over accusations that he leaked confidential and market-sensitive information to Mr. Epstein while serving in government. Mr. Mandelson has previously denied any criminal wrongdoing.

The British government has agreed to release thousands of internal government documents relating to Mr. Mandelson’s vetting and appointment as ambassador. The political turmoil has undermined the premiership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who appointed Mr. Mandelson to the role of ambassador, and even led to calls for him to resign over the decision.

ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 20, 2026 1:34 am

Yes Charles has power of pardon - in fact all criminal cases in the UK are Rex vs A Name (for those of you who never did Latin, Rex = King and Regina = Queen) so he would be prosecuting his own brother. Although he has that power he would never use it: the monarchy is in enough trouble as it is without adding more fuel to the fire.

Anti-monarchy sentiment is significantly higher among young UK adults, with 18-24 year olds now roughly as likely to support an elected head of state as they are to support the King. Polls indicate only 30%–37% of this age group supports the monarchy, while 40%–59% prefer an elected replacement, revealing a sharp divide with the 75%+ support among over-65s.

es Charles has power of pardon - in fact all criminal cases in the UK are Rex vs A Name (for those of you who never did Latin, Rex = King and Regina = Queen) so he would be prosecuting his own brother. Although he has that power he would never use it: the monarchy is in enough trouble as it is without adding more fuel to the fire.