Special counsel seeks death penalty for Yoon

Jan 14, 2026, 08:06 am

		0
Former president Yoon Suk Yeol, indicted as the alleged ringleader of the Dec. 3 martial law plot, smiles while talking with his lawyers during the sentencing hearing at Courtroom 417 of the Seoul Central District Court on Jan. 13.

A special counsel team on Monday sought the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol, accusing him of acting as the ringleader of an insurrection tied to the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.

It is the first time in three decades that prosecutors have sought capital punishment for a former South Korean president on such charges, following the 1996 case of Chun Doo-hwan.

The request was made during the sentencing hearing at the Seoul Central District Court. The special counsel also sought life imprisonment for former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun and a 30-year prison term for former intelligence commander Noh Sang-won.

Assistant special counsel Park Eok-soo said the martial law episode constituted “a grave destruction of the Constitution by anti-state forces,” arguing that it betrayed the duty to uphold the Constitution and safeguard citizens’ freedoms while fundamentally undermining national security and public survival. He added that the identity of the “anti-state forces” cited by Yoon to justify martial law had become clear.

Park pointed to unprecedented acts in the nation’s constitutional history, including the storming of the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, as well as attempts to cut power and water to media outlets. He said the responsibility of public officials who carried out constitutional violations should be judged more severely than past convictions of Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.

According to prosecutors, Yoon declared martial law with the aim of consolidating control over the judiciary and legislature to maintain long-term rule, preparing the move over an extended period to eliminate political opponents. They said mobilizing state resources for such purposes made the crime particularly serious.

“The core constitutional values of democracy and the rule of law, preserved through the people’s sacrifices, collapsed in an instant,” Park said, adding that the incident damaged South Korea’s national credibility and international standing. “Yoon has neither been forgiven by the people nor shown an attitude deserving of forgiveness. The court must serve as the final bastion of justice.”

Yoon is accused of conspiring with Kim and others to incite an insurrection by declaring an unconstitutional and illegal state of martial law despite the absence of wartime or equivalent national emergency conditions. He is also charged with deploying troops and police to block the National Assembly from voting to lift martial law and attempting to detain key figures, including Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, then-opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, and former ruling party chief Han Dong-hoon, as well as election commission officials.

#special counsel #insurrection #death penalty #Yoon Suk Yeol #martial law