S. Korea's special counsel seeks death penalty for ex-president Yoon in insurrection appellate trial

SEOUL -- South Korea's special counsel on Thursday sought the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk-yeol in his appellate trial over insurrection stemming from his 2024 martial law declaration.

The team of Cho Eun-suk, independent counsel in charge of Yoon's insurrection and other relevant crimes, requested the death penalty for Yoon on charges of orchestrating the insurrection by declaring an unconstitutional emergency martial law despite the absence of war, incident or equivalent national emergencies.

It matched the team's original sentencing demand from the first-instance trial, where a lower court handed Yoon a life sentence in February.

By law, the insurrection ringleader can only be sentenced to capital punishment or life imprisonment if found guilty.

The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of Dec. 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.

The constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach Yoon in April 2025, officially removing him from office.

Yoon was indicted under detention in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection.