Prosecutors have requested that Yun Suk-yeol, the former president of South Korea, be sentenced to death if he is found guilty of a failed attempt to impose a state of emergency.
A court in Seoul heard closing arguments in his trial, in which he was accused of "leading a rebellion."
The accusation stems from Jun's attempt in December 2024 to impose military rule in South Korea - an act that lasted only a few hours but plunged the country into political turmoil.
He was then arrested and detained pending trial,
Jun denied the accusations and added that the state of emergency was a symbolic gesture to highlight the wrongdoings of the opposition party.
Leading a rebellion, the most serious charge against Jun, carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Under South Korean law, prosecutors must ask the judge for one or the other.
No one has been executed in South Korea for almost 30 years.
In 1996, former military dictator Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death for seizing power in a 1979 military coup, although his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Prosecutors in Jun's case argue that, although no one was killed in his attempt to impose martial law, Jun's intent was no less violent.
They called a military commander to testify, who said that Jun ordered the arrest of the MP.
As evidence, they also presented a letter written by a former military officer.
This letter contains a proposal to "remove" hundreds of people, including journalists, activists, and MPs.
Yun's trial for sedition was also joined with the trials of other people in his administration, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former police chief Cho Ji-ho.
Verdict and sentencing for Jun and the other defendants, if convicted, are expected later in February.
Jun has been in custody for months while facing several trials.
Last month, prosecutors sought a 10-year prison sentence for Jun for obstruction of justice and other charges related to his attempt to impose a state of emergency.
On December 3, 2024, Jun shocked the country and the world when he declared a state of emergency in South Korea.
At the time, he said it was to protect the country from North Korean communist forces, but some saw it as a tactic to seize power amid domestic political unrest.
The short-lived declaration of a state of emergency plunged South Korea into months of political turmoil, while Yun became the first sitting president of the country to be arrested and indicted.
The current president of South Korea, Lee Jae-myung, was elected in June after a snap election following Jun's impeachment.
Despite these events, Jun has retained supporters in right-wing circles who see him as someone who dared to oppose the liberal Democratic Party led by Lee.
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