SEOUL: In a major legal development, an independent special counsel team on Thursday requested the death penalty for former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol during his appeal trial concerning charges of leading an unconstitutional insurrection through his failed December 2024 martial law decree.
Appearing before the Seoul High Court, the prosecution team headed by Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk formally reiterated its demand for maximum capital punishment. The counsel argued that Yoon orchestrated a grave breach of constitutional order by declaring emergency martial law in the absence of war or equivalent national security crises.
Yoon was previously sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2026 by a lower court for initiating the insurrection. The December 3, 2024 martial law order lasted only a few hours before lawmakers physically stormed the National Assembly to vote down and legally invalidate the presidential decree. Prosecutors had originally sought the death sentence during the initial trial proceedings in January.
Under South Korean penal law governing insurrection charges, ringleaders face a statutory sentence of either life imprisonment or the death penalty upon conviction. The former president currently faces eight separate judicial trials involving the martial law attempt, corruption allegations linked to his wife, and a high-profile inquiry into the 2023 death of a South Korean marine officer.
Yoon was formally stripped of his presidential immunity and removed from office in April 2025 after the Constitutional Court unanimously upheld his parliamentary impeachment, subsequently triggering a snap presidential election in the country.
For more details: Navamalayalam.com