Former South Korean President Faces Possible Death Sentence as a Result of Insurrection Charges

If con­vict­ed, for­mer South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a pos­si­ble death sen­tence, life impris­on­ment with labor, or life impris­on­ment with­out labor for his failed attempt to impose mar­tial law in December 2024. On January 13, 2026, spe­cial pros­e­cu­tor Cho Eun-suk’s team rec­om­mend­ed a death sen­tence for Mr. Yoon in the first insur­rec­tion tri­al of a South Korean head of state in three decades. Although the nation retains the death penal­ty, South Korea has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion since 1997. 

During clos­ing argu­ments, the pros­e­cu­tor explained that ​“Yoon…claims to have com­mit­ted emer­gency mar­tial law to pro­tect lib­er­al democ­ra­cy, but his uncon­sti­tu­tion­al and ille­gal emer­gency mar­tial law under­mined the func­tion of the National Assembly and the Election Commission… actu­al­ly destroy­ing the lib­er­al demo­c­ra­t­ic con­sti­tu­tion­al order.” Prosecutors high­light­ed ex-President Yoon’s lack of remorse — as he has not yet apol­o­gized — as an aggravating factor. 

The ver­dict is sched­uled to be deliv­ered on February 19, 2026, although US-based lawyer and South Korea expert Christopher Jumin Lee told the BBC that a par­don is like­ly regard­less of the sen­tence. ​“It’s a cus­tom­ary thing about Korean pol­i­tics,” Mr. Lee said. ​“Whatever the sen­tence, it’s a sym­bol­ic acknowl­edge­ment of how severe the crime is.” In the last insur­rec­tion tri­al in 1995 – 1996, pros­e­cu­tors sought and obtained a death sen­tence for ex-President Chun Doo-hwan and sought life in prison but received a 22.5‑year prison term for ex-President Roh Tae-woo for their roles in a 1979 coup. An appeals court lat­er revised Mr. Chun’s sen­tence to life in prison and Mr. Roh’s to a 17-year prison term. After about two years behind bars, both lead­ers received pres­i­den­tial par­dons. 

In addi­tion to insur­rec­tion, ex-President Yoon faced addi­tion­al charges in three oth­er tri­als accord­ing to the BBC. One tri­al con­clud­ed on January 16, 2026, where he was found guilty of obstruc­tion of jus­tice, abuse of pow­er, and fal­si­fi­ca­tion of doc­u­ments; he was sen­tenced to a five-year prison term. Two oth­er tri­als relat­ing to the failed December 2024 insur­rec­tion include charges of aid­ing an ene­my state and per­jury. 

Ex-President Yoon is not the only world leader to face a pos­si­ble death sen­tence in recent months. On November 17, 2025, for­mer Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and for­mer Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were sen­tenced to death by the nation’s International Crimes Tribunal after being tried in absen­tia for crimes against human­i­ty. They were found to have used lethal force against stu­dent-led pro­tes­tors in July and August 2024, killing more than 1,400 and injur­ing thou­sands, accord­ing to Amnesty International. Bangladesh has request­ed their extra­di­tion from India.