On the 19th, after the court sentenced President Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment in the first trial, defenders of the free Republic of Korea, including the Korea-U.S. Leaders Forum, issued a statement claiming, "The true insurrection is election fraud." [Photo=Yonhap News]After the court sentenced President Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment in the first trial, defenders of the free Republic of Korea, including the Korea-U.S. Leaders Forum, issued a statement on the 19th declaring that "the true insurrection is election fraud."

Defenders of the free Republic of Korea, including the Korea-U.S. Leaders Forum, criticized the ruling, stating, "The sentencing of President Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment and the imposition of heavy sentences on patriotic officials such as former Minister Kim Yong-hyun by the Ji Gwi-yeon panel of the Seoul Central District Court is a clear judicial murder and a shameful political verdict that has trampled upon the constitutional order of the Republic of Korea." They added, "This massive 'election manipulation' that steals the sovereignty of the people and destroys the constitutional order is the true riot and insurrection."

The following is the full text of the statement.

We strongly condemn the Ji Gwi-yeon judicial panel for sentencing the free Republic of Korea to death through forced legal reasoning and manipulated charges of insurrection! 

To the ‘traitors of the year of Byeong-o (2026),’ the judiciary: The true insurrection is ‘election fraud’!

Today, the judiciary of the Republic of Korea has blinded itself to law and conscience, pushing liberal democracy to the edge of a cliff. 

The sentencing of President Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment and the imposition of heavy sentences on patriotic public servants, such as former Minister Kim Yong-hyun, by the Ji Gwi-yeon panel of the Seoul Central District Court is nothing short of judicial murder and a disgraceful political verdict that has violated the constitutional order of the Republic of Korea.

If there were the ‘Five Eulsa Traitors’ who handed over the nation's sovereignty at the point of Japanese bayonets in 1905, today in 2026, the year of Byeong-o, there are the ‘Byeong-o Traitors’—political judges who are gifting the Republic of Korea's system to the Chinese Communist Party and pro-North Korean leftist forces. 

We declare that Ji Gwi-yeon and the judges who led this pathetic pursuit of insurrection are sinners in history, no different from national traitors, and we condemn the following 10 legal contradictions and hypocritical behaviors one by one.

1. [Loss of the Spirit of the Times and Judicial Treason] The traitors of the year of Byeong-o, comparable to the Five Eulsa Traitors

Currently, the Republic of Korea is in a desperate crisis where the liberal democratic system is on the verge of collapse due to the Lee Jae-myung regime and its accomplices. Even though the dark shadows of the Chinese Communist Party and the North Korean regime are covering the entire Republic of Korea beyond just the electoral process, the current judiciary lacks even a shred of awareness or deep concern for the spirit of the times. 

The Ji Gwi-yeon panel, which condemned the final decision to protect the nation and instead paved a legal path for forces attempting to overthrow the system, is no different from the five national traitors who sold out the country. History will record them forever as the unforgivable traitors of the year 2026.

2. [The True Culprit of Insurrection] Eradicate the Global Election Fraud Cartel!

Led by President Trump in the United States, the ugly face of the global election fraud cartel is being revealed. 

In both Korea and the U.S., piles of pristine, unfolded ballots and shape-memory paper have been discovered. There is an abundance of evidence of manipulation, including hacking of election systems like Dominion, vote counts exceeding the population, and votes cast by deceased individuals. 

This massive 'election manipulation' that steals the sovereignty of the people and destroys the constitutional order is the true riot and insurrection.

3. [Forced Creation of Investigative Authority] The Judiciary’s Sophistry Granting Absolution to Illegal Investigations

The court ignored the clear and valid legal arguments made by the defendants that the CIO (Corruption Investigation Office) and the prosecution had no legal authority to investigate charges of insurrection. The miraculous logic that because the CIO, which had no authority, "investigated together" with the police and prosecution, it was not a solo investigation and therefore meaningless, is beyond sophistry; it is judicial terrorism. 

Retroactively justifying illegal investigations by unauthorized agencies is an act of tyranny where the court itself destroyed the principles of due process and the exclusionary rule of illegally obtained evidence, which are the highest ideals of criminal procedure law.

4. [Malicious Distortion of the Elements of Insurrection] A Historical Error Labeling a Patriotic Decision as a 'Riot'

It is a grave legal misunderstanding to label the constitutional authority (emergency martial law) exercised by the President, the commander-in-chief of the military, during a national emergency where state functions were paralyzed, as a "riot for the purpose of disturbing the constitutional order." 

The court cited the case of Charles I of England to argue that monarchs could also commit treason, but this is merely a malicious framing that equates the legitimate constitutional will to defend the nation from system-overthrowing forces with an illegal 'coup d'état.'

5. [Arbitrary Separation of Motive and Purpose] Ignoring the Constitutional Will to Eradicate Election Fraud

The court reluctantly acknowledged the 'motive' that President Yoon intended to overcome the national emergency caused by the National Assembly, yet concluded that it could not justify the 'purpose' (disturbing the constitutional order). 

However, by intentionally excluding the 'ultimate purpose'—investigating election fraud on which the nation’s fate depends and resolving the state paralysis—and isolating the phenomenal 'control of the National Assembly' as a disruption of constitutional order, the court has maliciously distorted and judged the essence of the matter.

6. [Infinite Expansion of Conspiracy Theory] A Witch Hunt Based on 'Implied' and 'Retrospective' Consent

Most shocking is the court’s indiscriminate application of legal theory to forcefully recognize 'accomplices' and 'collective offenders.' 

Even though it was evident that they did not share an understanding from the start, the court sentenced police leadership and field supervisors such as Cho Ji-ho, Kim Bong-sik, and Mok Hyun-tae in succession, claiming that shared understanding is possible through "implied, retrospective, and tacit" means. 

Endlessly expanding the list of accomplices to an insurrection based on mere circumstances and presumptions without clear evidence of conspiracy is a blatant 'political purge' and a judicial witch hunt, as President Trump recently pointed out.

7. [Silence on Perjury and Orchestrated Insurrection Charges] A Biased Trial That Covered Up the Truth

The court thoroughly covered up the truth. Even though the clear perjury and wicked plans to fabricate insurrection by figures like Hong Jang-won and Kwak Jong-keun were exposed to the whole world in court, the Ji Gwi-yeon panel remained completely silent and turned a blind eye. 

They only acted according to a script designed to ensnare the President and patriotic military and police officers, while evidence favorable to the defendants and contradictions revealed during cross-examination were thoroughly excluded from the verdict. This is not a trial; it is a people's court wearing the mask of a political trial.

8. [Hypocrisy of Sentencing and Defamation of Military/Police] A Fabricated Verdict Masked by Crocodile Tears

The court cited social chaos caused by emergency martial law and the suffering of public officials as aggravating factors for sentencing, claiming that trust in the military and police had been damaged. 

However, it is the pro-North Korean leftist forces, who pushed for an illegal special counsel and planned an unreasonable witch hunt for insurrection, that truly divided the nation and incited extreme confrontation. 

The main culprit that handcuffed innocent soldiers and police officers following state orders and most severely damaged their honor is this very hypocritical judicial panel. The excuses for sentencing they shed in their verdict are disgusting 'crocodile tears.'

9. [Concealment of Election Fraud Truth] A Cowardly Judge Who Colluded with the Prevailing Trend After Canceling Detention

When Judge Ji Gwi-yeon was a judicial researcher at the Supreme Court, she witnessed firsthand the numerous fake ballots and the shameless attitude of the National Election Commission at a recount site. 

Furthermore, the National Intelligence Service's security inspection revealed to the world how defenseless the NEC system is against manipulation, and despite Minister Kim Yong-hyun and President Yoon pleading with bleeding hearts about the severity of election fraud in court, the judge ignored it. 

Having initially canceled the President's detention by her own authority, the fact that she ultimately succumbed to the trend of lies and manipulation to sentence him to life imprisonment is a cowardly collusion that has thrown the conscience of a judge into the gutter.

10. [The Betrayal of Fake Conservatives, 'Enchupados'] Warning of the Fate of Parasitic Forces

This disastrous ruling today was made possible by the cowardly betrayal of opportunists within the People Power Party—the ‘Enchupados’ (corrupt forces parasitic on power)—who seek the President only when begging for votes but stab him in the back when the nation is in crisis. 

Your cowardice in fearing martial law as a "wrong judgment" and kneeling before the enemy paved the way for the judiciary’s death sentence. You who ignore the truth and parasite on vested interests are neither conservatives nor human beings. 

How could this corrupt cartel possibly stop the massive global wave of eradicating election fraud? The more the oppression intensifies, the louder the echo for truth will become. 

We warn the rotten judiciary and corrupt legal professionals driving the Republic of Korea to its grave. We will surely use the strength of our people to strip away the false charges of insurrection, rectify the trampled election justice, and judge the rule of law in this country that the illegal special counsel and political judges have ruined. 

The treasonous acts of Ji Gwi-yeon and her accomplices will be recorded in the history of the year of Byeong-o as an eternal shame!

February 19, 2026

All the defenders of the free Republic of Korea, including the Korea-U.S. Leaders Forum, the Korea-U.S. Alliance of Free Lawyers, and the Association of Free Lawyers