Prosecutors Demand Death Penalty for South Korea’s Former President Yoon in Appeal

South Korean prosecutors have again demanded the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, seeking to replace the life sentence he received for leading an insurrection through his failed declaration of martial law in December 2024.

Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk's team made the request on October 29 at the Seoul High Court during closing proceedings in Yoon's appeal, Yonhap and the Korea Herald reported. Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment in February after being convicted of leading an insurrection.

Prosecutors Call Life Sentence Too Lenient

The special counsel team asked the court to impose the death penalty, the same punishment it sought at Yoon's first trial. The appeal is being heard by Criminal Division 12-1 of the Seoul High Court.

The team said there was "no reason to hesitate to impose the death penalty," the Korea Herald reported. It described the martial law declaration as a "self-coup" and an unforgivable crime against the constitutional order that sought to turn the clock back 40 years.

Prosecutors challenged the lower court's findings that the operation was not meticulously planned, that martial law ended quickly and that the use of force was restrained. They argued the plan was prepared over at least eight months, and that it failed because of public resistance and the reluctance of soldiers and police to carry out orders, not because Yoon held back. They also said martial law ended because the National Assembly demanded it be lifted. The team rejected treating Yoon's career as a prosecutor as a mitigating factor, saying he used knowledge gained in that role to commit the crime.

The team also said the lower court applied Supreme Court precedents only partly and took too narrow a view of the insurrection's preparations and aims, the Korea Herald reported.

For leading an insurrection, South Korea's Criminal Act provides for death, life imprisonment or life imprisonment without labor, according to JKN. The first-instance court imposed life imprisonment.

Prosecutors also sought harsher terms for other defendants. They asked for life imprisonment for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who received 30 years at trial, and 30 years for former Defense Intelligence Command chief Noh Sang-won, according to Asia Business Daily.

Failed Martial Law Declaration Led to Conviction

Yoon declared emergency martial law late on December 3, 2024, sending troops and police toward the National Assembly. Lawmakers voted to lift the decree, which lasted about six hours, according to AP.

The National Assembly impeached Yoon later that month, and the Constitutional Court upheld his removal from office on April 4, 2025. Yoon was indicted while in detention in January 2025, the Korea Herald reported.

On February 19, 2026, the Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of leading an insurrection and sentenced him to life in prison, rejecting the prosecutors' request for the death penalty. The court said he illegally mobilized military and police forces to seize control of the National Assembly, arrest politicians and establish unchecked power for a "considerable" time. He became the second former president convicted of leading an insurrection, after Chun Doo-hwan, according to the Korea Herald. Clash Report covered the life sentence when it was handed down.

Yoon's Lawyers Call the Case Political

Yoon has consistently denied wrongdoing, saying he acted to "safeguard freedom" and restore constitutional order, DW reported after his February verdict.

His lawyers responded to the prosecutors' demand on Thursday by calling the special counsel's case a political indictment built on unilateral claims rather than evidence and legal principles, SBS reported. Lawyer Bae Eui-cheol said the demand showed what he called the "true face" of a political special counsel, in SBS's translated report. Defense lawyers have said Yoon intended to warn the opposition-controlled legislature, not to establish authoritarian rule, according to JKN.

South Korea Has Not Executed Anyone Since 1997

South Korea still has the death penalty on its books, but AP reported that the country has not executed anyone since 1997 (the last executions were in December 1997), and an execution in this case would be unlikely. Capital punishment is therefore regarded as suspended in practice.

Appeal Proceedings Continue

Thursday's hearing was not a final ruling. Closing proceedings continue on November 3 and 5. The court plans to announce the verdict date after Yoon's lawyers present their closing arguments and Yoon gives his final statement on November 5, the Korea Herald reported. AP said no verdict date has been set. Yoon's appeal will decide whether the life sentence is upheld or replaced.

Yoon also faces other criminal cases. A lower court has also sentenced him to 30 years in prison in a separate case over drone flights over Pyongyang, which prosecutors said were meant to create a crisis to justify martial law, SBS reported. That case is on appeal. Clash Report has also reported on the arrests of former officials over the martial law attempt.