The special counsel team investigating Yoon Suk-yeol, the former president, for being the ringleader of an insurrection reportedly held a six-hour marathon meeting the day before the sentencing hearing but did not reach a conclusion.
The special counsel investigating the insurrection case held a six-hour meeting from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the 8th to discuss the sentencing recommendations for the defendants, including the former president Yoon.
The statutory penalties for the crime of being the ringleader of an insurrection are death, life imprisonment, or life penal servitude only. The meeting discussed expected sentencing outcomes depending on the recommendation, and the final recommendations appear likely to be decided after further deliberation.
The only case in which a court found someone guilty of being the ringleader of an insurrection is the former president Chun Doo-hwan. In 1996, prosecutors sought the death penalty for Chun, and the first trial court imposed a death sentence. However, it was commuted to life imprisonment on appeal, and the Supreme Court upheld that decision.
The sentencing recommendation for the former president Yoon is expected to be confirmed through the final statement tomorrow. The legal community sees the possibility of a death penalty recommendation as the highest, but given that Korea is effectively a country that has abolished capital punishment in practice, there is also a possibility that the recommendation will be made with consideration for a sentence that can actually be imposed.