▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol (4th from R) attends his insurrection trial at the Seoul Central District Court in the capital on Jan. 13, 2026, in this photo provided by the court. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) ex-president-trial

(2nd LD) Special counsel demands death penalty for ex-President Yoon over martial law declaration

(ATTN: UPDATES with details, sentencing request for ex-defense minister; RESTORES previous material)

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed imposition of martial law, describing him as the ringleader of an insurrection who sought to stay in power by seizing control of the judiciary and legislature.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team requested the sentence during the final hearing of Yoon's trial at the Seoul Central District Court, just over a year after the then president declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, with the stated aim of eradicating anti-state forces.

"Former President Yoon declared martial law with the purpose of remaining in power for a long time by seizing the judiciary and legislature," assistant special counsel Park Eok-su said.

"The nature of the crime is serious as he mobilized physical resources that should have been used only in the interest of the national collective."

Yoon was indicted last January on charges of leading an insurrection through his declaration of martial law.

He is charged with staging a riot with the aim of subverting the Constitution after conspiring with former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others, and illegally declaring martial law in the absence of war or an equivalent national emergency.

In particular, he is charged with mobilizing troops and the police to seal off the National Assembly compound and prevent lawmakers from voting down his decree, and ordering the arrest and detention of the National Assembly speaker and the then leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties.

Yoon became the first sitting president to be indicted with physical detention in January last year.

He was released in March following a court order that canceled his arrest but was taken into custody again in July on additional charges related to his martial law attempt.

"Former President Yoon did not reflect on how his actions led to a grave violation of the constitutional order and of democracy," Park said. "The biggest victims were the people who defended this through sacrifice in the face of dictatorship and authoritarianism."

Yoon is set to deliver his final statement.

The hearing began in the morning with a paper evidence examination by Yoon's lawyers, which ran for some 11 hours before the special counsel team gave its final opinion and made the sentencing recommendation.

The session was a resumption of what was supposed to be the final hearing last Friday, which was suspended after lawyers for the former defense minister, one of seven other defendants in the trial, delayed proceedings by spending eight hours on examining paper evidence alone.

On Tuesday, the special prosecutors demanded life imprisonment for the former minister on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection through his involvement in the brief execution of martial law.

For former National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho, the team demanded 20 years in prison on the same charge.

Amnesty International has categorized South Korea as a death penalty abolitionist in practice, as the punishment has not been carried out since December 1997.

Former President Chun Doo-hwan also stood trial on insurrection charges in 1996, in which the death penalty was recommended for his roles in a 1979 coup that installed him in power and the military's violent suppression of the Gwangju democratization movement in 1980.

Legal sources anticipate the court will rule on Yoon's case in early February.

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