Special Counsel Asks Seoul Court for Five-Year Sentence for Ex‑President Yoon in Probe Over Marine's Death

A special counsel on Friday asked a Seoul court to sentence former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison, arguing at the final hearing of his trial that he used a diplomatic posting to help a former defense minister avoid investigation in the 2023 death of a Marine.

At the July 24 hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, the special counsel team led by Lee Myeong-hyeon sought the prison term on charges of aiding a criminal’s flight and abuse of power. Prosecutors allege Yoon helped former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup evade a criminal investigation by arranging for him to be sent abroad as ambassador to Australia while scrutiny mounted over an alleged cover-up tied to the Marine death case.

The special counsel also requested prison terms for five other former officials. It sought three years each for former National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong and former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae. It also asked for two years each for former First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin, former Vice Justice Minister Shim Woo-jung and former presidential secretary Lee Shi-won.

At the hearing, the special counsel team said, “The defendants closed their eyes to the truth and, in order to send Lee Jong-sup as ambassador, performed a perfunctory vetting process while mechanically following procedures to lift the travel ban on him. This was not an individual and coincidental outcome but a systematic act of concealing the truth.” The team also said Yoon had “fully mobiliz[ed] state powers” for personal and political aims and “flagrantly violated” the state’s investigative authority.

The case centers on how Lee Jong-sup came to be posted to Australia. The indictment alleges discussions and moves in late 2023 to send him abroad, but the formal public appointment was announced on March 4, 2024. Lee left for Australia in March 2024, then returned to South Korea days later amid controversy, and resigned as ambassador on March 29, 2024.

The appointment became politically and legally explosive because Lee was under investigation in connection with the alleged cover-up surrounding the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun. Chae died on July 19, 2023, during a heavy-rain rescue and search operation in Yecheon.

The special counsel’s broader probe into the Marine death case ran for about 150 days and, in late November 2025, indicted 33 people, including Yoon. Friday’s hearing marked the close of Yoon’s trial in the case over whether state power was used to move Lee out of the country while the investigation was underway.

This case is separate from Yoon’s other criminal proceedings. In February 2026, he was sentenced to life in prison in a separate case over his December 2024 martial-law and insurrection charges; that case is on appeal.