Court to hear sentencing request for ex-President Yoon over martial law declaration

▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a trial, in this undated file photo provided by the Seoul Central District Court. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ Former President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) attends his insurrection trial, along with other defendants and their respective lawyers, at the Seoul Central District Court in the capital on Jan. 9, 2026, in this photo provided by the court. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

ex-president-trial

Court to hear sentencing request for ex-President Yoon over martial law declaration

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- The final hearing of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection trial was held Tuesday amid keen interest in the level of punishment he will face for his brief imposition of martial law, including the possibility of the death penalty.

The hearing was held at the Seoul Central District Court, resuming what was supposed to be the final session last Friday. The Friday hearing was suspended after lawyers for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, one of the other defendants in the trial, delayed proceedings by spending eight hours on examining paper evidence alone.

Should Tuesday's hearing proceed as planned, Yoon's lawyers will begin with a paper evidence examination and closing arguments before special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team gives its final opinion and makes sentencing recommendations for all eight defendants, including the ousted president.

The court will then hear final statements from the defendants.

In Yoon's case, the special counsel team is expected to request one of three types of punishment allowed by law for the ringleader of an insurrection -- the death penalty, life imprisonment or life imprisonment without forced labor.

Yoon was indicted last January on charges of leading an insurrection through his Dec. 3, 2024, declaration of martial law.

He is charged with staging a riot with the aim of subverting the Constitution after conspiring with the former defense minister 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.

The special counsel's sentencing request could come late in the day as Yoon's lawyers have said their paper evidence examination and closing arguments could take up to eight hours.

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.

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

Legal sources anticipate the court's ruling will come in early February.

The seven defendants aside from Yoon include the former defense minister and former National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho, who are accused of playing a key role in an insurrection through their involvement in the brief execution of martial law.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved