In brief
On Thursday, Seoul High Court heard a request from special counsel Cho Eun‑suk to impose the death penalty on former President Yoon Suk‑yeol for alleged insurrection tied to his December 2024 martial‑law declaration. The life sentence handed by a lower court last year is being reconsidered amid concerns that the president’s actions disrupted the constitution and democratic institutions. The appeal will proceed with additional hearings as Yoon prepares to make his final statement next week.
In a hearing at Seoul High Court on Thursday, prosecutors asked that former President Yoon Suk‑yeol receive the death penalty for insurrection stemming from a December 2024 declaration of martial law. The request, issued by special counsel Cho Eun‑suk, follows a first‑instance ruling that sentenced Yoon to life imprisonment in February.
Yoon’s decree came on the night of December 3, 2024, claiming to eradicate “anti‑state forces” amid a politically fraught period marked by successive impeachments of senior officials. The order lasted six hours before the National Assembly voted to revoke it; during that brief window, troops were deployed inside the parliamentary compound, a move the lower court described as an attempt to paralyse parliament and detain key politicians.
Under South Korean criminal law, the leader of an insurrection may be sentenced to either the death penalty or life imprisonment, with no option for a reduced term. The life sentence handed in February was considered by prosecutors “too lenient” because they view Yoon’s attempt to suspend constitutional authority as an unforgivable crime that threatened the Republic’s democratic order.
"There is no reason to hesitate to hand down the death penalty," a member of Cho’s team said, emphasizing that the possibility of a misjudgment is not a factor in this case.
"The strongest argument for objection to the death penalty is the possibility of a misjudgment just in case, but in this case, there is no room for that."The speaker, according to Yoon’s request, argued that Yoon’s constitutional oath was broken when he deployed armed troops toward the people, thereby attempting to reverse 40 years of democratic progress.
South Korea has not carried out a death sentence since December 1997 and is classified by Amnesty International as a de‑facto abolitionist state. The current appeal therefore raises questions about the intersection of legal punishment and the continent’s broader movement toward the elimination of capital punishment, as well as concerns about political accountability for a former head of state.
Yoon’s trajectory through the courts reflects the evolving stakes of democratic oversight. He had been impeached earlier in 2025 and formally removed from office by the Constitutional Court, yet criminal proceedings continued. The fact that a former president now faces potential execution underscores the seriousness with which South Korean institutions are treating constitutional breaches and the imperative to protect democratic norms against future violations.
Seoul High Court has scheduled two additional hearings before setting a sentencing date. Yoon is expected to deliver his final statement on Thursday next week, a moment that will signal whether the court will consider capital punishment or adhere to the life sentence originally imposed.
