The final hearing in the case charging former President Yoon Suk-yeol as the ringleader of an insurrection will be held on the 9th in Supreme Courtroom 417 at the Seoul Central District Court. Attention is focused on what level of sentence the special counsel investigating the insurrection case will seek. This courtroom is where the death penalty was sought against former President Chun Doo-hwan on the same charge 30 years ago.
Supreme Courtroom 417 at the Seoul Central District Court is a symbolic venue where former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye all stood trial.
After leaving office, former President Chun Doo-hwan was indicted on charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection (after the Criminal Act was amended, the ringleader of an insurrection) in connection with the Dec. 12 military coup and the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy movement. He was also brought to trial on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. On Aug. 5, 1996, in this courtroom, prosecutors sought the death penalty for the former president. For former President Roh Tae-woo, who was indicted on nine counts including performing important duties in an insurrection, they sought life imprisonment.
In the first trial, the former president was sentenced to death as sought. On appeal, it was commuted to life imprisonment, and the Supreme Court finalized the ruling. Former President Roh was sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in prison at first instance. It was later reduced to 17 years on appeal and finalized by the Supreme Court.
Thirty years after prosecutors' sentencing recommendation for the former president, former President Yoon is set to face a sentencing recommendation from the special counsel investigating the insurrection case on the same charge.
In connection with the Dec. 3, 2024 martial law crisis, former President Yoon was indicted last January on charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection, becoming the first sitting president to be brought to trial while in custody.
Former President Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office over the influence-peddling scandal, faced a prosecution demand of 30 years in prison in February 2018 in Supreme Courtroom 417 at the Seoul Central District Court. In April of the same year, the court sentenced her to 24 years in prison.
Former President Lee Myung-bak was brought to trial on charges including embezzlement of slush funds from DAS and bribery. In September 2018, prosecutors sought 20 years in prison for the former president in Supreme Courtroom 417 at the Seoul Central District Court, and in October of the same year, the court sentenced him to 15 years in prison.