SEOUL: South Korea’s special prosecutor is expected to make a sentencing request for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of insurrection over his brief imposition of martial law in 2024, as a lower court trial convened on Friday for its final session. Yoon, who is accused of masterminding an insurrection, could face the death penalty or life in prison under South Korean law if found guilty. South Korea has followed an unofficial moratorium for nearly 30 years and has not executed a death-row inmate since 1997.
In hearings at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors have alleged Yoon and then-defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, began devising a scheme as far back as October 2023 to suspend parliament and take over legislative powers.
Prosecutors allege Yoon sought to brand political opponents — including then-opposition leader Lee Jae Myung — as “anti-state forces” and detain them. The then president and Kim also tried to manufacture a pretext for martial law by escalating tensions with North Korea through a covert drone operation, prosecutors have said.
While the botched bid to impose martial law lasted only about six hours, it sent shockwaves through Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a key US security ally and long considered one of Asia’s most resilient democracies.
