In brief
In a high‑profile appellate trial, Special Counsel Cho Eun‑suk’s team again requested the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk‑yeol, citing his unauthorized martial‑law declaration in December 2024 and the troops’ deployment to the National Assembly. The request follows a February life‑sentence and highlights the Republic’s complex debate over capital punishment. The Seoul High Court will hold two further hearings before adjudicating a sentence.
At the Seoul High Court on Thursday, prosecutors led by Special Counsel Cho Eun‑suk again demanded the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk‑yeol in his appeal trial for insurrection related to his December 2024 martial‑law declaration.
The motion comes eight months after a lower court in February sentenced Yoon to life imprisonment for staging a riot by declaring and then revoking martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024. The lower court ruled the order was an illegal attempt to paralyze the National Assembly and arrest key politicians.
Yoon said his declaration was intended as a warning to the opposition‑controlled parliament amid successive impeachments of senior officials and attempts to cut the state budget. He maintained that the emergency measure was meant to deter anti‑state forces rather than an attempt to seize power.
In its appeal brief, the special counsel team rejected the life‑sentence, arguing that the lower court was too lenient. Under Korean criminal law, the ringleader of an insurrection may be sentenced to either the death penalty or life imprisonment. The team described the former commander‑in‑chief’s deployment of armed troops to the National Assembly “unforgivable” and a direct attack on constitutional order.
There is no reason to hesitate to hand down the death penalty, a member of the team said.
He added, “The commander in chief who had sworn to abide by the Constitution instead sent troops armed with guns pointing at the people. This was an unforgivable crime that destroyed the constitutional order and tried to turn back the clock of the Republic of Korea by 40 years.”
Amnesty International has long described South Korea as a death‑penalty abolitionist in practice, noting that the punishment has not been carried out since 1997.
The special counsel team highlighted that the lower court’s life sentence was “too light” and that the practice of not executing the death penalty should not deter the court from imposing it when warranted.
Yoon’s case also involves his indictment in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of the insurrection and a detention order. The Constitutional Court, in April 2025, officially removed him from office after upholding a motion to impeach him.
The Seoul High Court will hold two additional hearings before setting a sentencing date. Yoon’s final statement is scheduled to be delivered next Thursday.
