Prosecutor says former South Korean leader should face death sentence over marital law decree

An independent counsel on Tuesday demanded the death sentence for former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol on rebellion charges in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.

Yoon, who was removed from office last April and is in jail, faces eight trials over various criminal charges related to his martial law debacle and other scandals that flared during his time in office. Charges that he directed a rebellion are the most significant ones.

Independent counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team requested the Seoul Central District Court to sentence Yoon to death, describing his decree as “anti-state activities” and “a self-coup.” Cho’s team alleged that Yoon aimed to prolong his rule by neutralizing the constitutional structure of state governance systems.

Speaking at the same courtroom later, Yoon slammed investigations on his rebellion charges, saying they’ve been “frenzied” and that they have involved “manipulation” and “distortion.”

Yoon, a conservative, also reiterated that his decree was a desperate attempt to raise public awareness about what he considered the danger of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, which used its legislative majority to obstruct his agenda. He said the exercise of the president’s emergency powers cannot be punished as rebellion.

The court is expected to deliver a verdict in February. Experts say the court will likely sentence Yoon to life in prison. South Korea hasn’t executed anyone since 1997, and local courts have rarely issued the death penalty in recent years.

Yoon is the first South Korean president to face a potential death penalty after leaving office, since former military strongman Chun Doo-hwan in 1996 was sentenced to death for leading a military coup in 1979. Chun’s death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment, and he was eventually pardoned and released.

Decree, then downfall

Yoon’s decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years, brought armed troops into Seoul streets to encircle the National Assembly and enter election offices. No major injuries were reported. But the incident evoked traumatic memories of dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed rulers used martial law and other emergency decrees to station soldiers and armoured vehicles in public places to suppress pro-democracy protests.

On the night of Yoon’s martial law declaration, thousands of people gathered at the National Assembly to object to the decree and demand his resignation. Enough lawmakers, including members of Yoon’s ruling party, managed to enter an assembly hall to vote down the decree.

Observers described Yoon’s action as political suicide, marking a spectacular downfall for the former star prosecutor who won South Korea’s presidency in 2022, a year after entering politics.

The National Assembly impeached him and sent the case to the Constitutional Court, which ruled to dismiss him as president.

Yoon’s decree and ensuing power vacuum plunged South Korea into political turmoil, halted the country’s high-level diplomacy and rattled its financial markets.

Lee Jae Myung, a former Democratic Party leader who led Yoon’s impeachment bid, became president in a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to delve into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.

The president’s office said Tuesday it expects the judiciary branch to rule on Yoon in line with the law, principle and public expectations.

There had been speculation that Yoon resorted to martial law to protect his wife, Kim Keon Hee, from potential corruption investigations. But in wrapping up a six-month investigation last month, independent counsel Cho’s team concluded that Yoon plotted for over a year to impose martial law to eliminate his political rivals and monopolize power.