Death Penalty Sought for Former President Yoon Suk-yeol on Insurrection Charges

Seoul. South Korea’s special prosecution team has sought the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk-yeol on charges of insurrection this Tuesday.

According to multiple local media outlets, the team of independent special counsel Cho Eun-suk has recommended the death sentence for Yoon on the charge of orchestrating an insurrection by declaring an unconstitutional and illegal state of emergency martial law despite the absence of war or an equivalent national emergency.

The Seoul Central District Court is expected to deliver its verdict on the case in February. Last month, the court consolidated three separate trials involving eight defendants, including Yoon, who is accused of masterminding the insurrection, and seven senior military and police officials charged with playing crucial roles in the rebellion.

The special counsel team also sought life imprisonment for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. The team asserted that Kim, as a key architect who planned and led the insurrection alongside Yoon by mobilizing the military, bears immense responsibility and must inevitably face severe punishment.

Yoon had declared the emergency martial law on the night of December 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly. The Constitutional Court upheld a motion to impeach Yoon in April last year, officially removing him from office.

The ousted leader was indicted while in detention last January as the suspected mastermind of the insurrection, becoming the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted.