South Korea’s ex-President Yoon faces potential death sentence request in trial

A South Korean court trying former President Yoon Suk Yeol on insurrection charges ‌put off a sentencing request till next week after a marathon session ​on Friday (January 9, 2026), in a case that could give him the death penalty over his failed martial law bid in 2024.

Mr. Yoon, who is accused of masterminding an insurrection, could face the death penalty or life in prison under South Korean law if found guilty. South Korea has not executed a death-row inmate since 1997, although it has not abolished the death penalty.

A special prosecutor had been expected to make their request for a sentence to the ​Seoul Central District Court for Yoon and seven other defendants on Friday but ⁠the court decided to resume proceedings on January 13 after more than 12 hours of arguments.

Prosecutors have alleged that Mr. Yoon and then-Defence Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, began devising a scheme as far back as October 2023 to suspend Parliament ​and assume legislative powers.

Prosecutors accuse Mr. Yoon of ⁠seeking to brand his political opponents – including then-opposition leader Lee Jae Myung – as “anti-state forces” and to detain them.

They have said Mr. Yoon and Mr. Kim also tried to manufacture a pretext for martial law by escalating tensions with North Korea through a covert drone operation.

While ‌the botched bid to impose martial law lasted only about six hours, it sent ‌shockwaves through South Korea, which is Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a key U.S. security ally and was long considered one of Asia’s most resilient democracies.

Mr. Yoon, 65, ‍has denied the charges. The conservative former career prosecutor has argued he had the powers as President to declare martial law and that his action was aimed at sounding the alarm over ‍opposition parties’ obstruction of government.