Yoon to Attend Sentencing in ‘Leader of Insurrection’ Case, Live Broadcast at 3 p.m.

[Financial News] The first-instance sentencing of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is charged as the leader of an insurrection over the December 3 emergency martial law, will be broadcast live at 3 p.m. on the 19th, and Yoon is also expected to appear in court. With the special prosecutor team having requested the death penalty, the maximum penalty allowed by law, attention is focused on the final decision of the court, which has already been the subject of considerable controversy. The 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Ji Gui-yeon, will hold the sentencing hearing for Yoon’s alleged role as leader of an insurrection in Courtroom 417 at 3 p.m. Seven members of the military and police leadership, including former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun and former Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency Jo Jiho, who were indicted on charges of performing key duties in the insurrection, will also be sentenced.
The hearing will be broadcast live, and former President Yoon is expected to attend with his defense team. The panel is expected to explain the charges against Yoon and the other defendants, rule on whether the crime of insurrection has been established, and then hand down final sentences depending on whether they are found guilty or not guilty.
At the final hearing before sentencing on the 13th, Cho Eun-seok’s special prosecutor team for the insurrection case asked the court to impose the death penalty. The team argued that Yoon had conspired in advance to declare emergency martial law, and that, assuming he is found guilty, the court should not impose the statutory minimum sentence, life imprisonment, for what they called an unconstitutional and unlawful form of martial law.
Another reason a heavy sentence is expected at first instance is that various legal arguments advanced by Yoon’s side were rejected in earlier proceedings. Yoon’s defense had claimed that he did not fall within the investigative jurisdiction of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), but the 35th Criminal Division of the same court recognized the CIO’s authority to investigate. As a result, the argument that the trial itself could not stand and that he must therefore be acquitted has collapsed.
The conclusion that is decisive for determining guilt or innocence—that the December 3 emergency martial law amounted to an insurrection—has already been accepted twice. The 33rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, which sentenced former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison, and the 32nd Criminal Division, which sentenced former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min to seven years, both ruled that the December 3 emergency martial law constituted an insurrection. In particular, in Han’s trial, the court strongly criticized the emergency martial law as “an insurrection from above.”
The special prosecutor team stated that Yoon and others “sought to use emergency martial law as a means to usurp legislative and judicial powers, monopolize authority, and remain in power for an extended period,” and characterized the case as “a grave case of destruction of the constitutional order by anti-state forces, the likes of which is rarely seen.”
According to the special prosecutor team, the declaration of martial law was intended to neutralize the National Assembly and create a separate emergency legislative body, with the purpose of destroying the liberal democratic basic order, including popular sovereignty under the Constitution, the parliament, political parties, and the election management system.
On December 3, the very day emergency martial law was declared, the first provision of the proclamation stated that “all political activities, including the activities of the National Assembly and local councils, political parties, political associations, assemblies, and demonstrations, are prohibited.” The special prosecutor team has repeatedly argued that suspending the activities of the National Assembly on the grounds of impeachment is both clearly unlawful and unconstitutional.
Because of the gravity and sensitivity of the case, Presiding Judge Ji Gui-yeon of the 25th Criminal Division has repeatedly come under fire and become embroiled in controversy. Issues raised include allegations of entertainment at a room salon, the decision to cancel the detention of former President Yoon, and the incident in the same division involving attorney Lee Ha-sung’s abusive remarks and subsequent confinement order.
Meanwhile, Courtroom 417, where the sentencing will take place, is the same courtroom where former President Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death in 1996 on charges including leading an insurrection related to the 12/12 Military Insurrection and the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. Former presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye were also tried in Courtroom 417.
hwlee@fnnews.com Lee Hwan-joo Reporter