Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is accused of leading an insurrection by declaring martial law on December 3, 2024.

The special counsel team requested the sentence during the final hearing in Yoon’s insurrection trial at the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday night.

Deputy special counsel Park Eok-su explained that Yoon’s martial law attempt fundamentally betrayed his duty to uphold the Constitution and protect the freedom of the country’s people. 

The team sought life imprisonment for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is charged with playing a major role in an insurrection.
 
Under South Korean law, the crime of leading an insurrection carries the death penalty, life imprisonment with labor, or life imprisonment without labor. 

Playing a major role in an insurrection is punishable by death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment with or without labor for at least five years.

The Seoul Central District Court will issue its ruling on Yoon and seven other defendants at 3 p.m. on February 19.