Special Prosecutor Team to Appeal Yoon’s Life Sentence, Disputes Court’s View on Timing of Martial Law Decision

[The Financial News] The Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, has reportedly decided to file an appeal after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial on insurrection charges related to the December 3 emergency martial law declaration. The team is said to have concluded that it cannot accept the court’s determination of when Yoon resolved to declare martial law, as it differs from the timeline set out in the indictment.
According to legal sources on the 24th, the special prosecutor team held an internal meeting following the first-instance sentencing of Yoon Suk Yeol and tentatively decided to appeal, citing unjust sentencing and a misinterpretation of the law.
Cho Eun-seok and the Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason reportedly gathered at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office from around 6:00 p.m. that day to analyze the written judgment. They reviewed together whether to appeal, whom to target, and on what grounds. As discussions dragged on, the meeting lasted about two and a half hours and ended at around 8:30 p.m.
In particular, many participants at the meeting were said to have taken issue with the court’s view that Yoon made up his mind to declare martial law on December 1, 2024, two days before the declaration, saying this finding was difficult to accept.
Earlier, on the 19th, Presiding Judge Ji Gwi-yeon of the Seoul Central District Court’s 25th Criminal Division, in the first-instance sentencing hearing for Yoon on charges of leading an insurrection, handed down a sentence of life imprisonment to the former president.
The court recognized that the December 3 emergency martial law declaration constituted insurrection under the Criminal Act. It noted that, in principle, a president’s declaration of emergency martial law is an exercise of constitutional authority and does not normally amount to insurrection, nor is it easily subject to judicial review. However, the court held that if martial law is declared for the purpose of undermining the essential functions of the National Assembly or the executive and judiciary, it can fall within the crime of insurrection.
That said, regarding how the declaration came about, the court rejected most of the special prosecutor team’s allegations that preparations for martial law had been underway since before October 2023.
Instead, the court found that Yoon Suk Yeol firmly decided to declare martial law on December 1, two days before the declaration, and entrusted the detailed arrangements to former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun.
The special prosecutor team has also reportedly decided to appeal the first-instance sentences handed down to other defendants, including former Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Commander of the Defense Intelligence Command Roh Sang-won.
kyu0705@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Dong-gyu Reporter