In historic courtroom where military dictators were tried, prosecutors demand ultimate sentence for Yoon

In the same courtroom where Korea once tried former military strongmen, prosecutors sought the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, labeling him the leader of an attempted insurrection that evoked the country’s darkest chapters.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, right top, reviews documents as he takes his seat at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 13, ahead of the second sentencing hearing on charges of leading an insurrection. [SEOUL CENTRAL DISTRICT COURT]

In the same courtroom where Korea once tried former military strongmen, prosecutors on Tuesday sought the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, labeling him the leader of an attempted insurrection that evoked the country’s darkest chapters.

The sentence was requested 406 days after the declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.

At a hearing on Tuesday at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, the special counsel team handling Yoon’s case sought the maximum sentence allowed under the law for the charge of leading an insurrection, which includes capital punishment, life imprisonment or life detention.

For former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, indicted on charges of participating in the insurrection, the team requested life imprisonment.

“The elite figures in public office who committed this act of constitutional destruction must be punished even more severely than [former Presidents] Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae-woo were,” said special counsel Park Eok-su, calling for the death sentence. “Only then can Korea demonstrate that it can uphold its constitutional order on its own.”

The courtroom, Room 417 of the Seoul Central District Court, is historically significant because it was where former presidents Chun, Roh, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye were tried. In 1996, prosecutors also sought the death penalty for Chun in the same courtroom over the 1979 coup d'état and the subsequent suppression of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.

The special counsel team concluded that Yoon attempted to subvert the Constitution by declaring martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, even though the conditions required by the Constitution — wartime, an invasion or a comparable national emergency — had not been met.

Although Yoon’s defense cited the then-opposition’s efforts to impeach administration officials and cut the government budget, the special counsel team argued that he had been planning for martial law since at least October 2023, just seven months into his term, in coordination with close aides.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, far left, sits at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 13, during the second sentencing hearing on charges of leading an insurrection. [SEOUL CENTRAL DISTRICT COURT]

“The motive was to eliminate the opposition in one sweep, rewrite the Constitution and secure authoritarian, long-term rule,” special counsel Park said. “Yet even now, he repeats false claims, inciting supporters and distorting the facts.

“Despite the history of holding the Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae-woo regimes accountable, [Yoon] still conspired to commit insurrection,” Park emphasized. “We must recognize the need for even stricter punishment than that was handed down.”

Park added that despite Korea’s de facto abolition of the death penalty, “there are no mitigating factors, and the death penalty continues to be both sought and handed down to prevent such a tragic history from repeating itself and to seriously consider the possibility of recurrence.”

Yoon’s legal team rebutted the claims, arguing that the martial law declaration was a warning measure, and that the deployment of troops and police to the National Assembly and elsewhere was intended solely to maintain order. They also emphasized that the emergency order was lifted only six hours later, without any casualties.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY PARK HYEON-JUN, KIM BO-REUM, CHOI SEO-IN [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]