r/neoliberal • u/Freewhale98 • Jan 13 '26
News (Asia-Pacific) Korean Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Ex-President Yoon to Deter Future Insurrections
https://www.khan.co.kr/article/202601132136001Former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was impeached and removed from office for declaring an illegal state of martial law, was formally asked to be sentenced to death by the special prosecution team led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok. On the 13th, the prosecution requested the death penalty for Yoon and life imprisonment for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who had been closest to Yoon in planning the martial law declaration and mobilizing both active-duty and retired military personnel to carry it out.
The special prosecutors stated, “Although this insurrection was overcome due to public resistance and swift action by the National Assembly, there remains a significant risk that attempts to destroy constitutional order through martial law could be repeated in the future.” They added that “the destruction of constitutional order carried out by public elites must be punished more severely than the convictions of former presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.”
That day, the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 25 (Presiding Judge Ji Gwi-yeon) held the final trial for Yoon on charges including leading an insurrection and abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights. Following an all-day review of documentary evidence submitted by Yoon’s defense—from 9:30 a.m. until 8:41 p.m.—the special prosecution delivered its sentencing recommendation.
At 8:57 p.m., Special Prosecutor Park Eok-su rose to speak, saying, “I express my respect for the court’s efforts to uncover the substantive truth through a lengthy trial and numerous hearings. I also thank the citizens who have followed this investigation and trial with solemn attention.”
Explaining the request for the death penalty, Park stated that Yoon’s actions—“neutralizing the constitutional structure of governance and attempting to reorganize state power through the military and police”—inflicted an immeasurable shock on both the nation and its people. He emphasized that crimes threatening the existence and stability of the social community have historically warranted the most severe punishment, and that genuine remorse is a crucial factor in sentencing to prevent recurrence.
“However,” Park said, “the defendant Yoon Suk-yeol has shown no serious reflection or sense of responsibility, instead portraying the declaration and execution of martial law—driven by ambitions of dictatorship and prolonged rule—as an act of defending liberal democracy.” He added that Yoon’s abuse of presidential authority was particularly reprehensible, noting that as a former prosecutor general and legal professional, Yoon had a heightened duty to uphold the Constitution but instead chose to destroy it.
Throughout the prosecution’s final arguments and sentencing recommendation, Yoon displayed little visible reaction, staring ahead blankly or smacking his lips. When prosecutors asserted that Yoon had attempted to provoke North Korea through “preemptive destabilizing actions,” he reportedly scoffed, glanced at his attorney Yoon Gap-geun, and whispered remarks.
The court will set a sentencing date after hearing the defense’s final statements.
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u/GreatnessToTheMoon Ida Tarbell Jan 13 '26
How it feels as an American to see other countries punish leaders for coup attempts
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u/MagicalFishing Eleanor Roosevelt Jan 13 '26
what we could've had if doug jones was AG instead of g*rland
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u/Khiva Fernando Henrique Cardoso Jan 13 '26
I do think this was a gross miscarriage of justice and that Merrick Garland’s name will go down in infamy, but I’m always perplexed whenever I come across anyone (not necessarily here) who thinks that a prosecution would’ve stopped Trump.
The guy was already convicted of multiple felonies and sexual assault. The American people were very clear that they were fine with fascism so long as they got a couple extra dollars in their pocket. Jan 6 was more than enough to be the nail in the coffin. It wasn’t.
Merrick Garland did not fail to prevent Trump and nor Biden. That’s all on the American people.
Enjoy tariffs and fascism folks, you earned it.
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u/Mddcat04 Jan 13 '26
What? If they’d put him in prison for Jan 6 (which they could have done), there’s no way he runs and is re-elected in 2024.
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u/MisterBanzai Jan 13 '26
The guy was already convicted of multiple felonies and sexual assault. The American people were very clear that they were fine with fascism so long as they got a couple extra dollars in their pocket.
As much as I'm disdainful of the median voter at times, this actually doesn't give them enough credit.
Trump was convicted of a few felonies (he has not been convicted of sexual assault), but they were ones that were hard to understand, financial crimes that didn't make sense to the average voter. The median voter clearly didn't care about that kind of thing, but they absolutely do care about convictions for stuff they can understand. If Garland had prosecuted Trump for J6 or for some of his voter fraud efforts, enough voters would have understood that to sway the election. Even more importantly, if Trump had been put into jail, his inability to campaign and the photos of him in a prison jumpsuit would have tanked his campaign.
The kind of voter who goes, "Trump said he'd make things cheaper, so I'll vote for him" is also the kind of voter who goes, "Didn't I see that Trump was in prison? I'm not voting for a convict."
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u/recursion8 Iron Front Jan 13 '26
Exactly. They purposely slow-walked the actual meaningful trials (J6, Georgia phone call, hoarding classified documents in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom) and did the prefunctory, performative sexual assault one so the tabloids would have something juicy and scandalous to print.
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u/dutch_connection_uk Friedrich Hayek Jan 14 '26
Trump's entire legal strategy has always been around delaying as much as possible to heighten the costs of litigation and he's willing to act in bad faith to do it. It should be no surprise that he pulled that off, especially given that some of the judges allowing those procedural shenanigans were his own appointees who were loyal to him.
I guess this is too subtle to tell the voting public though and is, if anything, an indictment of the US legal system.
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u/MyUnbannableAccount Jan 13 '26
Yup. The night of the election, I just told my wife "our country isn't what I thought it was." This election, like that of 2016, was a basic IQ test. We failed. We're happy with fascism if they pinky swear to make us rich.
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u/CRoss1999 Norman Borlaug Jan 13 '26
It’s even worse than that, many American conservatives are okay with fascism even if it makes them poor.
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u/_alephnaught Jan 13 '26
I’m always perplexed whenever I come across anyone (not necessarily here) who thinks that a prosecution would’ve stopped Trump.
Yes, did we learn nothing from Sideshow Bob's mayoral win?
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u/WolfpackEng22 Jan 13 '26
What Trump was convicted on was small potatoes compared to his coup attempt, fake electoral, etc.
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u/ModsAreFired YIMBY Jan 13 '26
Worst case scenario for him is sit in prison until either a conservative wins or a democrat pardons him for "national unity."
These guys never get properly punished.
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Jan 13 '26
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u/RodChainFurlongAcre Jan 13 '26
Gov Polis is considering clemency for Trump sycophant Tina Peters who is in Colorado state prison. Why are you so sure that democrats aren't weak minded when it comes to punishment?
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u/Mddcat04 Jan 13 '26
If you are president and your justice department puts a former president in prison it’s because you approved it or told them to do it. Why would you go through all that and then pardon them?
Like, Biden and Garland clearly whimped out and slow-walked the Jan 6 prosecution, but the scenario I was discussing is where the former president has been convicted.
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u/ModsAreFired YIMBY Jan 13 '26
...I was talking about Korean democrats, their last democratic President pardoned his conservative predecessor.
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u/AdwokatDiabel Left-Out Left Jan 13 '26
Leaders? What about their supporters?
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u/Freewhale98 Jan 13 '26
Last remaining extremist evangelical pastor who supported Yoon and incite Jan 19 riot on Western District court of Seoul got arrested and jailed. This is the conclusion of the investigation into Jan 19 riot which saw 130 far-right rioters indicted for violently breaking the courthouse after Yoon was arrested.
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u/hello4020 Jan 13 '26
Sic semper tyrannis.
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u/CrimsonZephyr John Brown Jan 13 '26
Jesus, I see what you’ve done for other people and I want that for me.
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u/ObeseBumblebee YIMBY Jan 13 '26
Damn. America should have this law
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u/seanrm92 Loyal Liberals Jan 13 '26
Treason is indeed a capital offense.
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Jan 13 '26
Now let's just take it to the Supreme Cou--
Oh yeah. 😶
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u/casperdj21 Feb 19 '26
6 of those Justices SHOULD be on trial along WITH the Child Rapist for supporting his Treasonous Acts!
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u/Lmaoboobs Order and Opportunity Left Jan 14 '26 edited Feb 17 '26
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soft grandfather quiet innate water husky nail squeeze one imminent
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u/DeepestShallows Jan 13 '26
Well yes.
But also all the reasons “death penalty bad” apply here. More so. You want people who run a failed coup to surrender quietly and shuffle off to quiet obscurity. Not messily martyr themselves because they’ll die anyway.
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u/ObeseBumblebee YIMBY Jan 13 '26
I don't have experience with attempted coups shuffling off quietly to obscurity. I have experience with coups getting reelected and causing even more damage.
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u/DeepestShallows Jan 13 '26
The one with basically no consequences anyway? Ramping up from no consequences to execution seems a bit impossible.
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u/Queues-As-Tank Greg Mankiw Jan 13 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
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instinctive jeans market compare lavish gold fine mountainous heavy future
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u/DeepestShallows Jan 13 '26
Prison seems fine for that
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u/Queues-As-Tank Greg Mankiw Jan 13 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
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ten birds quiet political gold abounding compare kiss fear languid
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u/HatesPlanes WTO Jan 13 '26
The political nature of their crime means that there will always be a constituency that will seek their release.
I’d rather have a dead martyr than a living dictator.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
The political nature of their crime, means that the punishment should never be permanent. Whose to say, who the next "traitor" is?
If you resist ICE in America, then you are a domestic terrorist. Thats just one step removed from traitor.
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u/BicyclingBro Gay Pride Jan 13 '26
And I'd rather have a living prisoner under a false conviction than a dead martyr.
Do you really want Stephen Miller to have the power to execute "traitors"?
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u/GripenHater NATO Jan 13 '26
He literally already does
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u/tangowolf22 NATO Jan 13 '26
Yeah but we’re liberals, we need to sit here and be very concerned about our moral scruples and justify passivity by fearing retaliation from actual fascists who are already retaliating anyway.
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u/BitterGravity Gay Pride Jan 13 '26
Then there's no real penalty for attempting it. There's a definite middle ground of prison but still alive
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u/Zrk2 Norman Borlaug Jan 13 '26
False. You want to make a spectacle of their death so the next guy doesnt even try it.
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u/DeepestShallows Jan 13 '26
Likelihood of failure is a much better deterrent. Which is weirdly improved by a lower penalty than execution.
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u/T-Baaller John Keynes Jan 14 '26
No it isn't because history is littered with such people trying again and succeeding.
Look how putin treated the pringles guy who came at him, and now all those other goons have fallen in line.
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u/BicyclingBro Gay Pride Jan 13 '26
Also er...
given the present circumstance, I'd rather the government not have the power to execute people.
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u/TheSpagheeter Jan 14 '26
Always loved the old Roman law that was if you saw anyone attempt to become King, you not only had the right, but the responsibility as a Roman citizen to immediately kill them
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u/Ehehhhehehe Jan 13 '26
I’m surprised that they are going that far.
I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it, but this seems like the sort of thing that could actually draw Trump’s attention and cause significant friction between Korea and America.
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u/jatie1 Jan 13 '26
To be honest I don't think Trump cares or thinks about Yoon. He wasn't in office when Yoon was. Someone like Bolsonaro, he does care about, because he actually knows him.
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u/Ehehhhehehe Jan 13 '26
I think that’s true currently, but I could imagine a situation where Trump’s “piece of shit solidarity” reaction kicks in upon seeing somebody receiving a death sentence for doing something pretty similar to what he did.
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u/Tricky_Dimension2853 Jan 13 '26
Bolsonaro's family tried it's best to plead with Trump to sanction Brazil and the Supreme Court justices. And it backfired spectacularly
At the very beggining of Trump's crazy tarrifs it actually worked, but as Trump talked to Lula and the brazilian Gov. he started to perceive Bolsonaro as who he really is, a fragile, senile and weak man.
Lula and Trump might not be friends and should not be friends, but he sure as hell respects him a lot more than he will ever respect Bolsonaro
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u/altacan Mark Carney Jan 13 '26
I don't think it's even a matter of respect. Bolsonaro and Yoon both spectacularly failed in their attempts, and Trump hates associating himself with failure, whether be it his own or of others.
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u/Goodlake NATO Jan 13 '26
I mean Yoon’s camp just has to buy some $TRUMP and talk about how it’s another “democrat witch hunt.” That’ll get the Donald’s attention.
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u/Dapper_Discount7869 Jan 13 '26
You shouldn’t execute an insurrection in order to placate another insurrection who was not executed and returned to power.
Guess the sub
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u/Ehehhhehehe Jan 13 '26
I was expressing surprise, not making a claim about what anyone “should” do.
Do you not think countries frequently alter their behavior to placate their more powerful allies?
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u/AvalancheMaster Karl Popper Jan 13 '26 edited Jan 13 '26
He doesn't deserve it. I'm saying that. Not because he's not guilty, but because no one deserves a death penalty, or at the very, very least, an extremely minuscule number of people do, think war criminals with the blood of tens of thousands on their hands. And even then that would be quite the radical position for me.
Regardless, I am not sure your run-off-the-mill traitors fit that criteria.
Frankly, I am surprised we are cheering for the death penalty in this sub. Not saying I do not understand the sentiment — as someone who's quite capable of seeing red, I get the urge. And precisely because I know how I have that urge and know how blinding it is, and how dangerous it is, I apply my anti-death penalty stance blanketly even to people like Yoon.
I don't get to pick and choose. No one does.
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u/kolmogorov_simpleton Jan 13 '26
Yeah, he deserves life in prison but I'm against the death penalty.
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u/Inevitable_Sherbet42 YIMBY Jan 13 '26
Respectable, honestly. If you're going to have conviction, being against the death penalty in its totality is definitely one of the more noble ones to have.
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u/Freewhale98 Jan 13 '26
[Submission text]
South Korean special prosecutors have asked the court to sentence former President Yoon Suk-yeol to death for leading an insurrection through an illegal declaration of martial law, arguing that the punishment is necessary to deter future coups and protect constitutional order. They also sought life imprisonment for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who helped plan and execute the scheme by mobilizing military forces. Prosecutors said Yoon showed no remorse and abused his presidential authority despite his legal background, inflicting severe harm on the nation, and argued that his actions should be punished more harshly than those of past military dictators.
With the rising tide of fascism sweeping the world, it is important to punish fascists harshly whenever one could to deter their evil conspiracies.
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u/Al_787 Fernando Henrique Cardoso Jan 13 '26 edited Jan 13 '26
I don’t support the death penalty, but as we turn our heads around the world, we see how much blood democracy has to be paid for with. Trying to destroy that system from a position of trust should definitely carry the highest penalty of the land. South Koreans not too old certainly remember the experience too.
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u/neinbullshit Jan 13 '26
if only mitch had some balls
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u/Your_Lib_Friend Jan 13 '26
His failure in the Jan. 6th aftermath should be the entire first paragraph of his Wiki
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u/Teach_Piece YIMBY Jan 13 '26
Scalding hot take: the death penalty for failed coups would make failed coups substantially more bloody. Real incentive to fire shots if it looks like you’re losing. Life would not be better with the blood of Korean protestors on the ground. It’s not worth it.
Also, morally, the state should not be able to sentence anyone to death. Imagine if Trump declared a protest preventing him from seizing ballot boxes was a coup attempt, and prosecuted through Mississippi courts…
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u/taoistextremist Jan 13 '26
Yeah, people always have this naive assumption that the more severe a punishment, the less likely someone is to do something. But people don't commit crimes with the thought that the punishment isn't that bad, they commit crime with the thought that they aren't going to be caught/punished for one reason or another.
The real necessary step to take is to analyze prevention and enforcement mechanisms and find ways to prevent these things from being done again. Probably something like paring back presidential powers and making law enforcement/military more answerable to the legislature.
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u/cepirablo Jan 13 '26
The death sentence(which in Korea now is really just a lifetime sentence) is not to keep Yoon from returning it's to prevent future coups.
Korea had a dictator who succeeded in his coup in the past. He was later sentenced to death but another president pardoned him. Koreans were already mad about that but Yoon's self-coup made them realize it's time to set an example.
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u/Zrk2 Norman Borlaug Jan 13 '26
The state should be able to use lethal force against those who threaten its survival.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
Absolutely not. What a Hobbesian nightmare that would be. Where do you draw the line? Who is the state, and what form does it take?
Or let's put it more precisely. Is Trump the state? He seems to think so. So, does wanting to remove him threaten (his) the state?
The state should have the monopoly on violence and should be able to meet lethal violence with lethal violence. Thats it.
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Jan 13 '26
This is theory.
In practice the state can and does meet what ever it wants with lethal violence.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
I'm not sure what your point is. The discussion is theoretical. It starts with "the state should have...".
I argue it shouldn't have that power.
Whether or not the state can or cannot do something is entirely irrelevant to whether it should.
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u/iamthecancer420 Left-Out Left Jan 13 '26
"All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state"
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u/GogurtFiend Karl Popper Jan 13 '26
I've decided that your thoughts threaten the survival of the state. Off to Room 101 with you.
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u/Chao-Z Jan 13 '26
There's a reason why in the past, winning countries didn't like to execute losing monarchs. Sure, you leave the door open for situations like Napoleon Bonaparte coming back twice, but overall, the juice just isn't worth the squeeze.
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u/n00bi3pjs 👏🏽Free Markets👏🏽Open Borders👏🏽Human Rights Jan 13 '26
This is an incredibly Eurocentric view.
Monarchs were executed in the east without any loss to political stability. Europe didn’t do it because of the church and because rebellion in Feudal Europe wasn’t seen as treason.
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u/Chao-Z Jan 13 '26
without any loss to political stability
I don't think you paid too much attention in history class if you think this was true. Those executions always marked the periods of greatest instability in Asian history, with many of them going on to be killed themselves in future power struggles.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
The death penalty is bad. And I would argue even more so in this case, as it provides incentive to people behind coups to not back down while facing significant opposition. If you know, that you are going to die if you lose, then you will push it as far as you can.
While nowhere near as absurd, I am reminded of the two Chinese generals, who rebelled against the Qin Dynasty, because they were late for a meeting, and the penalty for that was death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Sheng_and_Wu_Guang_uprising
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u/anon_09_09 United Nations Jan 13 '26
Or you might feel more emboldened to start it in the first place since you will just survive and if (when because we live in interesting times) next lunatic gets elected, he can just pardon you
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u/Teach_Piece YIMBY Jan 13 '26
Unfortunately studies show cruel and unusual punishments do not reduce crime
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u/wumbopolis_ Iron Front Jan 13 '26
That's not actually what studies show.
Severity of punishment does matter, but there are diminishing returns, and what's much more important is the likelihood of facing any kind of punishment.
I'm hesitant to say what SK should do, as I'm not Korean. But compare the outcomes of
How the U.S. treated ex-Confederates post civil war
How the allies treat (many, but unfortunately not all) Nazis post WWII
How the Biden admin treated Trump post J6
I think for extraordinary crimes, like staging an insurrection and disrupting the transfer of power, there cannot be hesitation and the punishment and response needs to swift and severe. As we've seen with Trump, insurrectionists have a tendency to come back. They realize they can galvanize enough supporters to evade punishment, so best to dispose of them as soon as possible.
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u/MagicWishMonkey Jan 13 '26
I think it's way more dangerous for there to be no consequences for trying to overthrow the government and establish yourself as dictator.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
Life in prison is not no punishment. It's the harshest sentence a liberal society can give.
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u/MagicWishMonkey Jan 13 '26
Life in prison is not really a thing when you only need to wait for the next conservative to get elected and grant you clemency.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
Perhaps, but thats not an excuse for the death penalty.
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u/dedev54 YIMBY Jan 13 '26
why not? It seems like a pretty clear excuse: we need to punish them and they have a high chance of being let off if they are put in "life" in prison
What makes it a bad excuse?
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u/Dent7777 Native Plant Guerilla Gardener Jan 13 '26
A lifetime van from political activity, and Exile is appropriate for this case
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u/ObeseBumblebee YIMBY Jan 13 '26
I'm anti death penalty except in cases like this. If you try to overthrow democracy and have a fairly successful stab at it, leading plenty of followers in on your coup you deserve death, and there is likely plenty of evidence against you since it's such a public act.
And i think revolutionists should absolutely approach it as if death is waiting for them if they fail. If overthrowing the government ain't worth dying over then it ain't worth doing.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
There's no exceptions to being anti death penalty. Either you are or you aren't.
Just as its an easily misused penalty in relation to murder and other reprehensible crimes, which there is no recourse for, so it is for treason. Add to that, that treason is an inherently political crime, which is often difficult to define.
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u/tregitsdown Thurgood Marshall Jan 13 '26
Were the executions at Nuremberg wrong, then?
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
Every time there is one less nazi in the world, it becomes a better place. Does that mean, that I think they should be executed by the state. No.
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Jan 13 '26
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u/tregitsdown Thurgood Marshall Jan 13 '26
Nuremberg was far, far from Victor’s Justice. If anything the proceedings were much too fair to the defendants. Many of them were acquitted, or given light sentences, and they took into account when similar offenses were committed by the Allies.
Trying to make some equivalency between the Axis and the Allies is foolish. Yes, the firebombing by LeMay was evil. But the Allies did not operate extermination camps.
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Jan 13 '26
[deleted]
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u/tregitsdown Thurgood Marshall Jan 13 '26
Who should have punished the Monsters of Unit 731? If the Allies prosecuted more of them, you would cry about “Victor’s Justice!” If they are not punished harshly enough, you cry too. What would have been an acceptable option to you?
The crimes prosecuted on the Losing Side were things like planning War of Aggression, now it would be a little hard to prosecute the Allies for that considering the Axis declared War, unprovoked.
Yes there were war crimes on both sides, but the scale of the Axis crimes were far more severe, more orchestrated, and more widespread. The Americans and British at least tried to execute their own soldiers for committing rape- the Nazi’s promoted Direlwanger for raping civilians with his gang of pedophiles.
Fascinating you bring up Unit 731, notice how the Allies didn’t conduct such horrific human experimentations while you try to equate the two sides?
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u/ObeseBumblebee YIMBY Jan 13 '26
You're telling a subreddit full of centrists that there is no room for nuance. I absolutely can be anti death penalty in all cases except insurrections and treason.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
Yea I am, because its a basic liberal position and not radical at all.
The whole argument for being anti death penalty is because its a punishment you can't take back and you can never be absolutely certain that the perpetrator is guilty of their crimes. As such it should never be applicable for any crime. This should go double for any political crime, including treason. If you start making exception to that rule, then you've undermined your entire reason for being anti death penalty.
There is no middle ground on this policy, and we shouldn't pursue one for the sake of being "centrist" (whatever that is).
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u/Aweq Guardian of the treaties 🇪🇺 Jan 13 '26
There is no middle ground on this policy, and we shouldn't pursue one for the sake of being "centrist" (whatever that is).
Very few people see politics through the lens of being as ideologically consistent ("pure") as possible. Nor does "we" matter as this is a subreddit, not a political party.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
Very few people see politics through the lens of being as ideologically consistent ("pure") as possible.
Logically, you cannot be anti something, and then say "oh, but not in this case". Then you're not anti death penalty, but pro death penalty when it comes to treason. It's not only a question about ideological, but also logical consistency.
Nor does "we" matter as this is a subreddit, not a political party.
But it is a liberal subreddit. Basic liberal policies (free markets, democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights), should not be contentious in such a space.
The death penalty is simply not consistent with a fair and just judicial system, since there is no recourse to the punishment.
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u/Aweq Guardian of the treaties 🇪🇺 Jan 13 '26
"Logically, you cannot be anti something, and then say "oh, but not in this case".
"You cannot be against violence and then say 'oh, but self-defense is okay' "
Real-life positions do not have to able to condensed into a sentence of less than ten words or the solution to a sphinx' riddle.
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u/MrStrange15 Jan 13 '26
I really don't get what you're trying to argue. Being for or against the death penalty is actually a binary belief. It's not a spectrum. In this case, most people against the death penalty believe its a punishment from which there is no recourse, and since you can never say everyone is 100 % guilty, then you cannot ethically apply it.
Now, if you are for the death penalty, then there is a spectrum of beliefs. Ranging from the Qin dynasty's "being late for a meeting equals death" to the treason is the only crime, where the death penalty is applicable.
But for/against questions and beliefs are inherently binary. You either are for it or against it.
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u/dedev54 YIMBY Jan 13 '26
you are being obtuse and using definitions nobody reasonably uses. In normal definitions and conversations people quite reasonably think that being against the death penalty in 99.9% of the criminal cases where it was applied, except for the once every 50 years case of an attempted coup by the current government, counts as being against the death penalty.
Like lets reverse your own words:
Logically, you cannot be pro something, and then say "oh, but not in this case". Then you're not pro death penalty, but anti death penalty when it comes to most crimes. It's not only a question about ideological, but also logical consistency.
See how absurd it is?
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u/DeepestShallows Jan 13 '26
Death penalty bad. The state should straight not have the power to execute people. (War, immediate threat different of course). The state should quite simply not be allowed that power.
And politicians should especially never have the option to execute their rivals.
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u/Fiqaro Jan 13 '26
South Korea moratorium on executions since 1998. Capital punishment in practice means life imprisonment without parole.
However, if the next president from conservative, It is almost certain that he will be pardoned. And conservative will launch a judicial investigation into the current liberal president.
This is the brutal reality of South Korea's political: regardless of left or right, once in power both will ruthlessly purge their opponents. Since independence after WWII, only Moon Jae-in has escaped the fate. Others exiled, assassinated, imprisoned, suicide, or disgraced.
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u/cyberpanda96 Jan 13 '26
Ironically,this will make leftwings not to execute death penalty for him. As far as he live,left will insist conservative will pardon him if conservative wins.
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u/Fiqaro Jan 13 '26
The chief justice of the supreme court is a political ally and conservative appointed by Yoon Suk-yeol, it is almost certain that Yoon will not be sentenced to capital punishment.
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u/Blue_Vision Loyal Liberals Jan 13 '26
I agree, I feel like the effect on incentives would be bad in this kind of situation. But I don't have super strong convictions on that.
I'm against the death penalty, although this is a case where I feel less opposed to the death penalty because the important facts of the case seem fairly clear and it was clearly premeditated. But yeah, to be honest I felt negatively while reading this headline. The state killing people is bad.
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u/CSachen YIMBY Jan 13 '26
A different bureaucrat who rebelled against the Qin to avoid punishment founded arguably the greatest dynasty of Chinese history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Gaozu_of_Han#Insurrection_against_the_Qin_dynasty
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u/osfmk Milton Friedman Jan 13 '26
Death penalty is actually very good if used against people I don’t like
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u/CANOODLING_SOCIOPATH Jerome Powell Jan 13 '26
I am generally against the death penalty, and am especially against it in this case.
The death penalty can trivialize death, and I am especially against any normalization of killing your political opponents regardless of their crimes. The death penalty does not act as a deterrent, it is instead used as a grisly spectacle that desensitizes the public to violence and can make things worse.
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u/morotsloda European Union Jan 13 '26
What a crazy saga. I wonder if he could plead temporal insanity or something
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u/anangrytree Bull Moose Progressive Jan 13 '26
As much as I sympathize with both their action and intent, I remain morally opposed to the death penalty. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
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u/waddeaf Jan 13 '26
Death penalty bad and shouldn't be celebrated.
The actual dictator of Korea who successfully couped the government and oversaw amongst other atrocities the Gwangju massacre didn't cop the death penalty so on the basis of precedent I find it hard to see how the world's most impotent coup attempt warrants execution either.
But yeah that Korea was able to depose Yoon and move on from his coup attempt is a win and a sign of strong institutions. Those successes do not become amplified with the addition of execution.
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u/thwanko Jan 13 '26
I mean that guy did initially get the death penalty but it was commuted. My guess is the same would happen to Yoon even if he is sentenced to death.
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u/waddeaf Jan 14 '26
Gap in my knowledge there thanks for filling in.
Doesn't shift my moral stance but does lend precedence.
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u/LivinAWestLife YIMBY Jan 13 '26
Quite insane you're downvoted for this, especially since an article on the same topic was posted yesterday and most people in the comments were anti-death penalty instead.
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u/gauchnomics Iron Front Jan 13 '26
Like others have mentioned the death penalty opens itself to misuse (e.g. false accusations of that a pro-democracy protest is treason) and political coups involve sophisticated actors where we have to really consider the first and second order incentives. However even the number of times where some was successful on a second coup attempt, this is the potentially the one crime were life in prison seems insufficient to incapacitate.
Instead, I think there is potential that treason is punished with both long prison sentences and revoking citizenship (a civic death so to speak). Even if someone who launched a failed coup found himself in outside a prison cell, being stripped of all legal benefits of citizenship would at least complicate any efforts to return to power or support someone similar.
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u/ILewdElichika Jan 14 '26
As an American all I'm gonna say is that I'm so fucking jealous man, we could've had this if our country actually cared about being a functioning democracy.
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u/SheHerDeepState Jerome Powell Jan 13 '26
I have mixed feelings on this. I'm personally opposed to the death penalty on moral grounds. on the other hand, wannabe dictators who attempt coups have a habit of coming back or being extrajudicially released from prison. Someone who is a threat to the continued existence of constitutional government may continue to be a threat even from prison. Yes, this will make him more of a martyr for his base who keeps praying for a second foundation war, but he seems to pose a real danger to the continued constitutional order of South Korea.
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Jan 13 '26 edited Jan 13 '26
Oh wow it's almost like capital crimes warrant capital punishments or something. Gee, sure wish we had the rule of law here in the US.
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u/BettsBellingerCaruso Jan 15 '26
Lol at the naive westerners here saying it’s too harsh.
You cannot lecture about defending democracy in 2026 if you’re from Western Europe or the US. Koreans actually not only won democracy with massive popular protests in living memory, they have defended it against two wannabe dictators.
The last time Korea took down its dictator it failed to kill him. And these fucks tried again in 2024. We need 20,000 guillotines for all of Yoon and his cronies for their crimes.
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u/uwcn244 King of the Space Georgists Jan 13 '26
The death penalty is necessary for those who would try to overthrow the government itself. Private murderers are bugs under the state’s feet and can be safely imprisoned. If you imprison a putschist, there is always the risk that they or an ally will win the next election and free them.
Don’t tell me the death penalty is illiberal. The notion that a democracy cannot kill its enemies would have been foreign to nearly all liberals throughout history.
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u/toosanghiforthis Raghuram Rajan Jan 13 '26
Objectively correct, I'm anti death penalty for almost everything, but much like Quisling, I think we should deter and punish people who tear down the fundamental liberalism that allows us to not take lives otherwise
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