Park Sung-jae

Park Sung-jae served as South Korea's Minister of Justice from February 20, 2024, to June 4, 2025. On June 22, 2026, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to 25 years in prison for his role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of emergency martial law on December 3, 2024. The court convicted him of insurrection and abuse of authority, finding that he directed ministry officials to prepare for the arrest of political figures, review the dispatch of prosecutors to the martial law command, and draft documents justifying the insurrection. He was taken into custody immediately following the verdict. The court dismissed separate charges alleging he violated the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act by handling inquiries from former first lady Kim Keon Hee regarding a luxury handbag investigation, ruling those matters fell outside the special counsel's mandate. He also faces ongoing investigations regarding allegations of government interference in a 2023 military probe into a Marine's death, specifically for allegedly facilitating the departure of a key suspect from the country. Previously, in April 2025, the Constitutional Court dismissed an impeachment motion against him, which had initially suspended him from office in December 2024.