The appeal centers on Yoon's short-lived December 2024 decree, which collapsed in six hours when legislators breached police lines and overturned the order. A lower court ruled the mobilization aimed to detain political rivals and entrench power, leading to his impeachment and formal removal in April 2025. Yoon maintains the maneuver was simply a warning to an obstructive, opposition-dominated assembly. The appellate court has scheduled two additional sessions, concluding with the defendant's final statement on November 5.
Key points
State prosecutors are determined to upgrade the former leader's insurrection punishment f…: State prosecutors are determined to upgrade the former leader's insurrection punishment from life imprisonment to the death penalty.
Yoon continues to deny seeking an authoritarian regime, claiming his actions were meant t…: Yoon continues to deny seeking an authoritarian regime, claiming his actions were meant to admonish an uncooperative parliament.
The high-stakes legal appeal is scheduled to hear Yoon's final personal statement on Nove…: The high-stakes legal appeal is scheduled to hear Yoon's final personal statement on November 5.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Former president faces renewed death penalty demand as he appeals life sentence for insurrection.
South Korean prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk-yeol over his failed attempt to impose military rule.
The team led by special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk renewed the demand at an appeal hearing in Seoul on Thursday, arguing that Yoon’s actions threatened South Korea‘s democracy.
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He was sentenced to life imprisonment in February after being convicted of leading an insurrection.
Prosecutors had previously sought the death penalty at Yoon’s original trial in January, but the court sentenced him to life imprisonment the following month.
At Thursday’s hearing at the Seoul High Court, a prosecutor said there was “no reason to hesitate” over imposing the death penalty, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
South Korea retains the death penalty but has not carried out an execution since 1997.
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