Main opposition People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said he felt “saddened and devastated” by the life sentence handed down to former President Yoon Suk Yeol in his insurrection trial.

Jang said Friday during a press conference at the National Assembly that the sentence was only a lower court ruling and that the presumption of innocence must apply to everyone without exception.

The party chair dismissed calls from reformist members within the party to sever ties with Yoon, saying repeated demands for an apology and a break with the former president would only sow the seeds of division.

Jang said the party had consistently maintained that the declaration of martial law did not, in itself, amount to insurrection, and that the Seoul Central District Court had failed to provide sufficient grounds to overturn that stance.

He added that the court's logical flaws reflected traces of the presiding judge’s remaining conscience.

Jang also criticized President Lee Jae Myung, saying Yoon had accepted both the Constitutional Court’s ruling and the Seoul court’s judgment, whereas Lee had halted five trials by invoking immunity under Article 84 of the Constitution.