Jun Hyunhee: "Yoon Showed No Remorse at Final Hearing... Death Penalty Request Unavoidable"

"Statutory Penalties for Leading an Insurrection Are Only Death or Life Imprisonment"
"Remorse Should Have Been Shown at the Final Sentencing Hearing"

As the special prosecutor's team in charge of the insurrection case sought the death penalty for former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is accused of being the ringleader of the insurrection, voices from the ruling party have said this was "inevitable." The reason cited was that former President Yoon did not show any attitude warranting leniency in sentencing.

On January 14, Assemblywoman Jun Hyunhee of the Democratic Party of Korea stated on CBS Radio's "Park Sungtae's News Show," "The statutory penalties for leading an insurrection are only the death penalty or life imprisonment. For the special prosecutor to seek life imprisonment, the accused would have needed to show an attitude of admitting his wrongdoing. However, former President Yoon has shown no remorse whatsoever and instead tried to shift the blame for his actions onto his subordinates."

Former President Yoon Seok-yeol, accused of leading an insurrection, appeared at the sentencing hearing on the 13th. Photo by Yonhap News

She continued, "This charge of leading an insurrection is an unprecedented case of a sitting president staging a coup with his loyalists, a grave crime that destroys the constitutional order of Korea. Given that former President Yoon has shown no signs of remorse, the special prosecutor had no choice but to seek the death penalty."

Regarding former President Yoon's demeanor in court, she said, "Yesterday was the final sentencing hearing, which should have been an opportunity for him to apologize and show remorse to the public for his actions. However, his continued lack of remorse only fueled public anger, and I believe this was taken into account in seeking the maximum penalty allowed by law."

The trial for former President Yoon began the previous day and concluded in the early morning of January 14 after nearly 17 hours. On this day, the special prosecutor sought the death penalty for Yoon, while the former president maintained his innocence in a 90-minute final statement. The verdict for the first trial is scheduled to be delivered on February 19.

The Democratic Party issued a statement on the special prosecutor's request for the maximum penalty, calling it "a reasonable conclusion that aligns with the public's expectations."

Park Soo-hyun, chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated in a written briefing late the previous night, "The statutory penalties for leading an insurrection, as defined by the Criminal Act, are only the death penalty, life imprisonment, or life penal servitude."

He added, "The special prosecutor's request for the death penalty is a declaration that the law will demand the strictest accountability for acts that sought to destroy the constitutional order and override the sovereignty of the people by force. Now, it is up to the judiciary to make its decision. This is not only about judging the crimes of a former leader, but also the final test of whether the Republic of Korea can defend its democracy on its own."