Anchor: The final hearing in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection trial, stemming from his 2024 martial law declaration, began Friday at the Seoul Central District Court. It comes a year after prosecutors indicted Yoon on a charge of being the “ringleader of an insurrection,” and nine months after the trial began. 
Yun Sohyang has more. 

Report: The prosecution could seek the death penalty for jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol if he’s convicted of leading an insurrection.

Under South Korean law, the offense carries the death penalty, life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without labor.

Yoon and his seven co-defendants appeared in court on Friday, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong‑hyun, former Defense Intelligence Commanders Noh Sang‑won and Moon Sang‑ho, and former Police Commissioner General Cho Ji‑ho.

The special counsel team is expected to deliver its closing argument and sentencing recommendations for Yoon, and  the defendants will then have a chance to present their final statements.

Kim and the others accused of participating in the martial law plan could face the death penalty, life imprisonment, or a minimum prison term of five years with or without labor.

Yoon is accused of colluding with them to declare martial law unconstitutionally and unlawfully in the absence of a war or other national emergency, and of inciting a riot with the goal of subverting the nation’s Constitution.

He also stands accused of mobilizing martial law troops and police to obstruct a parliamentary vote to revoke his decree, and of attempting to arrest and detain political figures such as National Assembly Speaker Woo Won‑shik and the leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties at the time.

The court is widely expected to hand down verdicts in the case by February.
Yun Sohyang, KBS World Radio News.