Sri Lanka, Feb. 19 -- A South Korean court on Thursday found former President Yoon Suk Yeol guilty of leading an insurrection during his botched attempt to place the country under martial law in December 2024.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty in the case, closely watched in a deeply divided country. It is the most consequential yet for the ousted leader, whose bid triggered a national political crisis and tested democratic resilience.

In January, prosecutors had said Yoon's "unconstitutional and illegal emergency martial law undermined the function of the National Assembly and the Election Commission ... actually destroying the liberal democratic constitutional order."

Masterminding an insurrection carries a maximum sentence of the...