South Korea’s former president Yoon faces the death penalty

Judgment

South Korea’s former president Yoon faces the death penalty

Yoon unexpectedly declared martial law in 2024 – did he want to destroy South Korea’s constitutional order? Now the verdict has been reached – the public prosecutor’s office is demanding the death penalty.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol expects his verdict in a few hours in South Korea’s most important criminal trial in recent years. After the 65-year-old unexpectedly declared martial law in December 2024, he now has to answer for insurrection in the Seoul Central District Court. Judges have only three options available to them if they are found guilty: life imprisonment, life imprisonment with hard labor or the death penalty. The public prosecutor’s office demanded the latter in mid-January.

When Yoon declared martial law in the evening hours of December 3, 2024, he plunged South Korea into a state crisis that lasted for months. The conservative politician and former prosecutor spoke in a televised speech about wanting to protect the country’s liberal order from an opposition infiltrated by communists and North Korea sympathizers. However, he provided no evidence to support his claim.

In the evening hours, Yoon ordered special military units to cordon off the National Assembly in Seoul. However, his plan did not work: after a few hours, the MPs were able to revoke the martial law decree in a hastily called vote. The president was removed from office and impeached.

The special prosecutor’s team led by Cho Eun Seok called for the death penalty for Yoon in their closing argument in mid-January. The reasoning stated that the defendant had planned the imposition of martial law for a long time in order to destroy the country’s constitutional order. His actions caused “enormous damage and great suffering for the state and society.” The special prosecutor’s office also accused Yoon of “not once sincerely apologizing to the public” and showing no remorse.

The ex-president is also accused of having accepted a conflict with North Korea. He is said to have ordered a secret drone operation on North Korean territory in the fall of 2024 in order to provoke a military response from Pyongyang – and in this way create a pretext to legitimize his martial law plans. North Korea did not respond to the provocation with military countermeasures.

Yoon’s lawyers, however, have always rejected the allegations. According to them, the martial law decree was a symbolic wake-up call to warn of a political crisis triggered by the opposition. In the months before martial law was declared, the dispute between the government and opposition over a budget law had escalated – there was a political stalemate.