{"id":8497,"date":"2026-01-13T20:44:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8497"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:44:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:44:48","slug":"south-korea-prosecutors-seek-death-penalty-for-ex-president-yoon-death-penalty-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8497","title":{"rendered":"South Korea prosecutors seek death penalty for ex-President Yoon | Death Penalty News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Prosecutors say Yoon, who was impeached over a failed 2024 martial law declaration, threatened \u2018constitutional order\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dream-1820-1756620243.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 13 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">13 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>South Korean prosecutors have asked for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to face the death penalty over his failed attempt to impose martial law in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk\u2019s team made the request to the Seoul Central District Court during court on Tuesday, accusing Yoon of threatening the \u201cliberal democratic constitutional order\u201d with his \u201cself-coup\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe greatest victims of the insurrection in this case are the people of this country,\u201d said the prosecutors. \u201cThere are no mitigating circumstances to be considered in sentencing, and instead, a severe punishment must be imposed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yoon plunged South Korea into a crisis with his martial law declaration in December 2024, prompting protesters and lawmakers to swarm parliament to force a vote against the measure.<\/p>\n<p>The decree was quickly declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and Yoon was subsequently impeached, removed from office and jailed.<\/p>\n<p>Yoon\u2019s criminal trial for insurrection, abuse of power, and other offences linked to the martial declaration ended on Tuesday after 11 hours of proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>The court is expected to deliver a verdict on the case on February 19, according to the Yonhap news agency.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"yoon-says-investigations-frenzied\">Yoon says investigations \u2018frenzied\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The former president has denied the charges against him, arguing that he was acting within his authority to declare martial law in response to what he described as opposition parties\u2019 obstruction of government.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in court Tuesday, Yoon criticised investigations into the rebellion charges as \u201cfrenzied\u201d and mired in \u201cmanipulation\u201d and \u201cdistortion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If found guilty, Yoon will become the third South Korean president convicted of insurrection, following two ex-military leaders convicted over their roles in the 1979 coup.<\/p>\n<p>But even if Yoon is handed a death sentence, it is unlikely to be implemented, as South Korea has observed an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1997.<\/p>\n<p>Yoon also faces several other trials over various criminal charges related to the martial law attempt and other scandals during his time in office.<\/p>\n<p>A Seoul court is expected to deliver a verdict on Friday on an obstruction of justice case, which could see Yoon facing 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>And he faces a trial on charges of aiding the enemy over allegations he ordered drone flights over North Korea to justify his martial law declaration.<\/p>\n<p>The office of President Lee Jae Myung, who \u200dwas elected after Yoon was removed from office, said in a statement that it \u201cbelieves the judiciary will rule \u2026 in accordance with the law, principles, and public standards.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prosecutors say Yoon, who was impeached over a failed 2024 martial law declaration, threatened \u2018constitutional order\u2019. Published On 13 Jan 202613 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share South Korean prosecutors have asked for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to face the death penalty over his failed attempt to impose martial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}