Judge Ji Gwi-yeon and the court recognised the defendant Yoon Seok-yeol and Kim Yong-hyun as leaders of a rebellion in the first trial result, sentencing Yoon Seok-yeol to life imprisonment.
Life imprisonment!!
This is the minimum sentence that can be imposed for rebellion.
There are only two options: death penalty and life imprisonment. So, this means it is the lightest possible sentence for the crime of rebellion.
The special prosecutor sought the death penalty...
Judge Ji Gwi-yeon cited the reason for the sentence reduction as the failed rebellion.
In the end, it is said that the reduction is due to the failure... So, if by any chance it had succeeded, would there have been a trial at all? The saying that 'a successful coup cannot be punished' from the trial process of Chun Doo-hwan comes to mind.
So why did it fail?
Firstly, it seems that Yoon Seok-yeol is indeed foolish, so let's not mention that.
Secondly, on April 4th last year, the Constitutional Court stated that there was no two-hour rebellion by Yoon Seok-yeol, and Moon Hyung-bae, then acting president of the Constitutional Court, said, 'The National Assembly was able to quickly pass the resolution to lift the martial law thanks to the military's passive response to illegal orders despite the citizens' resistance and commands.' Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, a key figure in the rebellion, also clearly stated in the ruling that '(the martial law was lifted immediately) is due above all to the courage of the citizens who defended the National Assembly against the armed martial law troops. It is certainly not due to the participants in the 12.3 rebellion.'
In summary, it can be said that the suspect Yoon Seok-yeol and the martial law forces supporting him reached a result where the victim (the citizens) defended themselves and led to a sentence reduction. Truly~ it is an irony that cannot be laughed at.
Last week, I read an article stating that former and current political scientists from the World Political Science Association recommended the entire population of South Korea for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Perhaps it is the first time in Nobel Prize history that an entire nation's population has been nominated? If awarded, this would also be a first, and we would become a country that holds three Nobel Prizes.
It is bittersweet.
To think that the president of one's own country is a Nobel Prize nominee due to a failed rebellion...