Special Counsel for Insurrection Seeks Death Penalty for Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Citing “Anti-State Activities Under the National Security Act”

[Financial News] The Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, has requested the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is on trial on charges of leading an insurrection. The special prosecutor team made this request at a sentencing hearing held on the afternoon of the 13th before Criminal Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Jee Kui-yeon, in the insurrection case against eight defendants including former President Yoon, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and former Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) Commissioner General Jo Jiho.
Explaining the reasons for its sentencing recommendation, the special prosecutor team stated that former President Yoon "abandoned his duty to uphold the Constitution and to promote the freedom of the people, and directly and fundamentally infringed upon national security and the survival and freedom of the people." The team further argued, "In light of its purpose, means, and manner of execution, it is reasonable to evaluate this as having the character of anti-state activities regulated under the National Security Act."
Specifically, the special prosecutor team cited as evidence: the motive for the crime and prior conspiracy; the unconstitutionality and illegality of the December 3 Martial Law and the defendants’ awareness of that; the issuance of unconstitutional and unlawful martial law decrees; the deployment of military and police forces to blockade and control access to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea; the deployment of military and police forces to blockade and control access to the National Election Commission (NEC); the operation of arrest teams targeting key politicians; and the cutting off of power and water to major media outlets and the blockade of the Democratic Party of Korea headquarters. On this basis, the team argued that former President Yoon initiated anti-state activities that threatened the very existence of the community—namely, insurrection.
The special prosecutor team further concluded that former President Yoon’s motive for declaring the December 3 Martial Law was "to wipe out the opposition party in one stroke, paralyze the functions of the National Assembly, seize legislative power through a national emergency legislative body, and then amend the Constitution before the end of his presidential term in order to seek the prolongation of his power."
The special prosecutor team particularly emphasized that former President Yoon’s declaration of the December 3 Martial Law constituted an act of destroying the constitutional order, carried out 44 years after former President Chun Doo-hwan declared the May 17 Expanded Martial Law in 1980. Regarding this, the team stated, "Although this insurrection was ultimately overcome through the resistance of the people and the swift actions of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, the conduct of these public-office elites demonstrates that, despite the punishment of the insurrections led by the forces of Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, there remains a significant risk that future attempts to destroy the constitutional order through a ‘loyalist coup’ using martial law as a tool may again be repeated, and this must be clearly shown."


kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-gyu Reporter