Individuals watch information studies on the closing listening to of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s revolt trial at Seoul Station, Tuesday. Newsis
A particular prosecutor’s request for the dying penalty in opposition to impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his 2024 martial legislation fiasco has turned the highlight to what comes subsequent, because the court docket prepares to subject a ruling within the coming weeks.
A sentencing listening to is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Feb. 19. The closely-watched ruling will come greater than a yr after Yoon was indicted in January 2025 on fees of main an revolt.
Authorized consultants say an precise dying sentence is unlikely and that the case is nearly sure to maneuver via a prolonged appeals course of. Nonetheless, they observe that the prosecution’s resolution to hunt the dying penalty carries important symbolic weight.
In a 38-minute closing argument on Tuesday, prosecutors beneath particular counsel Cho Eun-seok urged the court docket to impose the harshest punishment accessible. They described Yoon’s abrupt martial legislation declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, not merely as an illegal train of authority however as a long-planned try to dismantle the nation’s constitutional order via the mobilization of navy and police forces.
Deputy particular counsel Park Eok-su argued that the episode displays the previous president’s effort to pay attention energy in pursuit of extended rule, a transfer that inflicted critical shock and anxiousness on the general public.
Park referred to previous instances involving former President Chun Doo-hwan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for revolt after utilizing martial legislation to seize energy within the Eighties. He mentioned Yoon’s illegal use of emergency rule a long time later, regardless of the precedent, warranted stricter punishment than that of the navy dictator.
“The defendant has proven no regret, which gives no grounds for leniency. The dying penalty is the one applicable possibility,” the prosecutors mentioned.
Beneath Korean legislation, the costs of main an revolt go away the court docket with three sentencing choices: dying, life imprisonment with labor, or life imprisonment with out labor.
Regardless of the prosecution’s request, whether or not the court docket will impose a dying sentence stays unsure.
Former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan, proper, and Roh Tae-woo stand throughout their sentencing listening to on the Seoul District Court docket on this Aug. 26, 1996 photograph. Korea Instances file
The case most frequently cited as some extent of comparability is that of Chun, who was charged with revolt for main the Dec. 12 navy coup in 1979 and the violent suppression of the 1980 Gwangju rebellion. Prosecutors in that case additionally sought the dying penalty, however the Supreme Court docket in the end upheld a sentence of life imprisonment.
Even when the court docket have been to impose the final word sentence for Yoon, it might be unlikely to be carried out. Korea has not executed anybody since 1997, and Amnesty Worldwide classifies the nation as “abolitionist in observe.”
Additionally, any ruling by the trial court docket in February is unlikely to be remaining, because the case is anticipated to maneuver via greater courts, together with the Supreme Court docket — a course of that might take years.
Yoon has constantly insisted that his martial legislation declaration falls inside presidential authority, arguing that the transient emergency rule didn’t trigger any hurt to the general public. In the course of the closing arguments, he dismissed the indictment as “delusional,” signaling that he’s prone to attraction an unfavorable ruling.
“Even when the trial court docket palms down a dying sentence, Yoon is extra prone to find yourself with life imprisonment after going via the appeals course of,” Han In-seop, a professor emeritus at Seoul Nationwide College Regulation Faculty, wrote on Fb.
Han mentioned the dying penalty carries highly effective symbolic weight by branding a defendant as “unworthy of life,” however warned that it may possibly additionally serve to rally supporters of political offenders. He mentioned that life imprisonment is the harshest punishment that may be realistically enforced beneath Korea’s authorized system.
Regardless of the remaining sentence, the opportunity of a presidential pardon for Yoon can’t be dominated out. Chun, who was sentenced in August 1996, was launched from jail in December 1997 after receiving a presidential pardon.
A navy automobile is surrounded by police and residents exterior the Nationwide Meeting in Seoul, Dec. 4, 2024, hours after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial legislation declaration. Korea Instances photograph by Park Si-mon
Prosecutors additionally sought sentences for seven former navy officers and senior police officers accused of taking part within the martial legislation imposition.
They requested life imprisonment for Kim Yong-hyun, a former protection minister and shut ally of Yoon, who’s accused of being the chief architect of the martial legislation plot.
A 30-year jail sentence was searched for Noh Sang-won, a former protection intelligence commander. He was accused of exerting energy inside the navy and ordered active-duty officers to grab management of the Nationwide Election Fee.
Prosecutors sought a 20-year jail sentence for Cho Ji-ho, the previous commissioner basic of the Nationwide Police Company, and 15 years for Kim Bong-sik, the previous head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Company, accusing them of ordering police forces to be mobilized in assist of martial legislation.
