South Korean Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Yoon Suk Yeol in Martial Law Appeal

A special counsel team asked the Seoul High Court on Thursday to sentence former President Yoon Suk Yeol to death in his appeal trial on insurrection charges tied to his failed declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024.

The request came eight months after a lower court sentenced Yoon to life in prison. That court found that troops were sent to the National Assembly compound to paralyze parliament and arrest politicians during the six hours the order was in force, according to coverage by the Korea JoongAng Daily and Aju Press.

What the prosecution asked for

“There is no reason to hesitate to hand down the death penalty,” a member of the special counsel team said, adding that there was “no room” for a misjudgment of the facts. The team described the case as “an unforgivable crime that destroyed the constitutional order and tried to turn back the clock of Korea by 40 years.”

The prosecution said the lower court’s life sentence was too lenient and that the practice of not carrying out executions should not be a reason to avoid imposing a death sentence. The team also sought a life sentence for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, 30 years for former Army Intelligence Commander Noh Sang-won, 20 years for former National Police Agency Commissioner Jo Ji-ho, 15 years for former Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong-sik, and 12 years for former National Assembly Security Chief Mok Hyun-tae. Two other former officials each faced a request for 10 years.

Yoon has maintained that his declaration of martial law was meant as a warning to the opposition-controlled parliament amid its successive impeachments of senior government officials and attempts to cut the state budget, not to set up authoritarian rule. He declared martial law with the stated aim of eradicating antistate forces, and the order was lifted hours later by a vote in the National Assembly.

Under South Korean criminal law, the only three punishments possible for the ringleader of an insurrection are the death penalty, life imprisonment, and life imprisonment without labor. South Korea has not carried out an execution since December 1997, and Amnesty International categorizes the country as a death penalty abolitionist in practice.

What happens next

The court plans to hear final statements from Yoon and the other defendants on November 3 and 5, with Yoon scheduled to give his final statement on November 5. The court will set a sentencing date after those statements.

Reporting based on coverage by the Korea JoongAng Daily and Aju Press.