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Yoon Suk-yeol, the former president of Korea. (courtesy Seoul Central District Court)

Korean prosecutors have called for the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk-yeol in his appeals trial on charges of leading an insurrection.

The special prosecutor’s team led by Cho Eun-seok has demanded the death penalty Thursday at the trial for Yoon and seven others at the Seoul High Court. The prosecutors had demanded capital punishment in the first trial, but the court sentenced the former chief executive to life in prison.

“The most compelling argument against the death penalty is the potential for a miscarriage of justice, but there is no such doubt in this case,” the team said. “The defendant, Yoon Suk-yeol, must be considered a traitor who sought to reject and overthrow the constitutional order of the Republic of Korea.”

“To expand his power, he schemed and ordered reckless military operations in a bid to provoke North Korea,” it added. “He showed no regard even for the risk that the Republic of Korea could again be engulfed in the flames of war just to satisfy his own selfish desires.”

“Mobilization of the military to overthrow the constitutional order is not just a political blunder or abuse of power, but an act of treason of the highest order that betrays the public trust as well as a crime of the worst kind against the nation,” it said.

“To ensure that public resistance was not in vain as well as prevent another Yoon Suk-yeol from emerging, we urge the court to hand down the harshest possible sentence under law,” the team said. “We cannot leave to future generations the mistake of again failing to punish insurrection with the ultimate penalty.”

Prosecutors also demanded a life sentence for Kim Yong-hyun, who received 30 years in prison in the first trial for playing a key role in the martial law attempt while serving as Yoon’s minister of defense.

The court on Thursday held the first of three sessions to close proceedings on the failed coup. On Nov. 3 and 5, it is expected to hear closing arguments from defense counsel and final statements from the defendants, including Yoon, before scheduling a day for the verdicts.

By Kim Su-yeon, staff reporter

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