Special prosecutors in South Korea have again requested the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk-yeol during his appeal trial on insurrection charges linked to his short-lived attempt to declare martial law.
The sentencing request was presented by a special counsel team headed by Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk at the Seoul High Court. Yoon is appealing a life imprisonment sentence handed down in February for leading an insurrection through his failed martial law attempt in December 2024. That decree lasted only a few hours before it was blocked and overturned by the National Assembly.
Prosecutors had previously sought the death penalty for Yoon in January of this year. Yoon was officially removed from office in April 2025 after the Constitutional Court unanimously upheld his impeachment over the December 3, 2024 martial law declaration, an action that triggered a snap presidential election.
Overall, the former president is facing a total of eight trials. The legal cases surround his martial law decree, alleged corruption involving his wife, and the 2023 death of a marine officer.
