The final hearing in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection trial, stemming from his 2024 martial law declaration, began Friday at the Seoul Central District Court. 

The hearing comes a year after prosecutors indicted Yoon on a charge of being the “ringleader of an insurrection,” and nine months after the trial began.  

The crime of leading an insurrection carries the death penalty, life imprisonment or life imprisonment without labor, and the special team could seek the death penalty for the jailed former president. 

All eight defendants appeared in court, including Yoon, former Defense Minister Kim Yong‑hyun, former Defense Intelligence Commanders Noh Sang‑won and Moon Sang‑ho, and former Police Commissioner General Cho Ji‑ho.

The special counsel team is expected to deliver its closing argument and sentence recommendations for Yoon, after which the defense attorneys will present their closing argument, followed by final statements from the eight defendants.

Kim and others accused of participating in the martial law plan could also face the death penalty, life imprisonment, or a minimum prison term of five years with or without labor.

Yoon is accused of colluding with Kim and the others to declare martial law unconstitutionally and unlawfully in the absence of a war or other national emergency, and of inciting a riot with the goal of subverting the nation’s Constitution.

He also stands accused of mobilizing martial law troops and police to obstruct a parliamentary vote to revoke his decree, and of attempting to arrest and detain political figures such as National Assembly Speaker Woo Won‑shik and the leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties at the time.

The court is widely expected to hand down verdicts in the case by February.