South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol arrives for a hearing at the Korean Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.
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South Korea’s special prosecutor has sought the death penalty for former President Yoon Seok-yeol over his brief declaration of martial law in 2024.
The request was made as Yun’s trial concluded late Tuesday. The court is scheduled to issue a ruling on February 19th.
Yun has been charged with leading the riot, a crime not covered by presidential immunity and punishable by the death penalty.
If executed, it will be the first execution in South Korea in about 30 years.
Amnesty International classifies the country as “de facto abolitionist,” noting that although South Korea still maintains the death penalty, it has not executed anyone since 1997.
According to South Korean media reports, during the final hearing, Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-sook’s team said that Yoon declared martial law “with the purpose of controlling the judiciary and legislative branch and maintaining a long-term power.”
Yun reportedly maintained his innocence, saying the declaration was within his constitutional authority and aimed at “protecting freedom and sovereignty.”
At the time, Yun accused the then-opposition Democratic Party of engaging in “anti-national activities” and colluding with “North Korean communists.”
On December 3, 2024, Yun declared martial law in a late-night speech and then ordered the military to the National Assembly. As special forces tried to enter the chamber, soldiers blocked their way and clashed with protesters and lawmakers.
However, martial law was overturned within three hours after 190 of the 300 members of the Diet managed to get to the chamber and unanimously passed a resolution to overturn it. Yun ultimately lifted martial law about six hours after he declared it.
South Korea’s last military coup occurred in 1979, when then-Army General Chun Doo-hwan took control after President Park Chung-hee was assassinated.
Chun then extended martial law nationwide in 1980, leading to the 1980 Gwangju uprising. The army violently suppressed protests in the southwestern city of Gwangju, killing between 200 and 2,000 civilians.
At the time, Chun’s government accused the uprising of being instigated by “North Korean communists and gangsters.”
In 1996, Chun was sentenced to death for his role in the 1979 coup, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
