(4th LD) Special counsel demands death penalty for Yoon over martial law declaration; ruling set for Feb. 19

▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol attends his trial at the Seoul Central District Court in this Sept. 26, 2025, file photo. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

▲ 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)

(4th LD) ex-president-trial

(4th LD) Special counsel demands death penalty for Yoon over martial law declaration; ruling set for Feb. 19

(ATTN: CHANGES dateline; RECASTS headline; ADDS more info in paras 3, 7-9, 16)

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team has requested 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 made the request during the final hearing of Yoon's trial at the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday, just over a year after the then president declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, with the stated aim of eradicating anti-state forces.

The court plans to hand down its ruling on Yoon's case on Feb. 19.

"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."

As the sentencing request was made, the former president showed a faint smile from the dock, while some of his supporters in the gallery cursed loudly.

In his final 90-minute statement, Yoon reiterated his claim of innocence, arguing that the exercise of a president's constitutional state emergency right cannot constitute an insurrection.

"It was not a military dictatorship that suppresses citizens, but an effort to safeguard freedom and sovereignty, and revive the constitutional order," Yoon said.

He also criticized the investigations and indictment against him as a "frenzied sword dance characterized by purges and repression."

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

He was accused of 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 was 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 democracy," Park said. "The biggest victims were the people who defended this through sacrifice in the face of dictatorship and authoritarianism."

The hearing began in the morning with a paper evidence examination by Yoon's lawyers, which ran for about 11 hours before the special counsel team gave its final opinion and made its sentencing recommendation. It wrapped up at 2:25 a.m on Wednesday.

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, while for former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Bong-sik it sought 15 years in prison and for retired Army Maj. Gen. Noh Sang-won, a former commander of the Defense Intelligence Command, 30 years.

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.

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