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Park Chan-kyong

A court ruling on the case of former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo in January next year will serve as a bellwether for others charged over impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed martial law decree, observers say.
On Wednesday, the special counsel team investigating insurrection charges related to Yoon’s December 3 decree demanded a 15-year prison term for Han, the 77-year-old political veteran accused of helping “mastermind” the attempted self-coup.
Senior Judge Lee Jin-gwan of the Seoul Central District Court has scheduled the ruling for Han on January 21, the first verdict related to the martial law declaration.
Lim Ji-bong, a law professor at Sogang University, said the outcome would set the tone for the trials tied to the decree.

“Han’s [potential] sentencing will be closely watched as a key indicator for the sentencing of Yoon and others accused of insurrection,” Lim told This Week in Asia.
If convicted, Han’s case would effectively define Yoon’s martial law decree as an act of insurrection, rather than a legitimate presidential measure to counter vaguely defined “anti-state forces”, as Yoon had argued.
Others implicated in the case include former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, ex-home minister Lee Sang-min and several senior military officers.
Judge Lee had already signalled the case’s gravity by ordering prosecutors to expand Han’s potential indictment – from merely aiding Yoon to playing a central role in the attempted insurrection, Lim added.
Kim Jong-hyuk, a former senior official of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party, agreed that if Han were found guilty, courts handling the cases of Yoon and his alleged accomplices “would have to follow suit”.
“Judging from the court’s order to change Han’s indictment, it is highly likely that it will find Han guilty of … insurrection,” Kim said on a radio talk show on Wednesday.
‘Terror attack on democracy’
Under Article 87 of South Korea’s Criminal Act, those who instigate an insurrection may face death or life imprisonment, while participants in planning or executing one face the same penalties or at least five years in prison.
Prosecutors have accused Han of helping draft the decree, committing perjury and destroying documents as part of an alleged cover-up.
During Wednesday’s court session, Han, dressed in a dark suit, sat expressionless as Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok’s team called for a 15-year sentence.
“This case was a terror attack on Korea’s democracy, to which the entire nation fell victim,” one prosecutor said, calling Han “the only person who could have stopped this insurrection” who instead sought to “legitimise” it and allegedly falsified official documents to conceal his role.
Prosecutors described the case as the first instance of a sitting president committing insurrection in South Korean history.


“The prime minister – who has a constitutional duty to ensure correct policy decisions – instead joined in, taking part in Yoon Suk-yeol’s proclamation of martial law and the ensuing insurrection,” the prosecution team said in a statement.
“As prime minister, the defendant destroyed constitutional order and the rule of law. His culpability is therefore extremely grave, and a severe punishment is unavoidable to ensure such a history is never repeated.”
Prosecutors likened the episode to the martial law imposed by military ruler Chun Doo-hwan in 1980, following the assassination of then president Park Chung-hee the previous year.
“The December 3 martial law caused far greater damage to the nation’s prestige and inflicted an immense sense of loss on the public than the insurrection 45 years earlier. Its harm is immeasurable and difficult even to grasp,” the prosecutors said.
“If the past insurrection deprived the nation of its opportunity to transition from authoritarianism to democracy, the present insurrection destroyed in an instant the democratic gains accumulated over decades and dragged down South Korea’s international credibility and national competitiveness.”
‘I was in shock’
In his final statement, Han said the shock of Yoon’s announcement had prevented him from thinking clearly.
“That night, when the president said he would declare emergency martial law, I was struck by an indescribable shock, as if the ground had collapsed beneath me,” he said.
“My memories of that moment are fragmented and unclear. I could never agree to it, and I tried to change the president’s mind, but it was beyond my power.”
He added that he sought to convene other cabinet ministers to collectively persuade Yoon to reverse course.

“Although I didn’t use the explicit word ‘oppose’ to the president before the declaration, I did repeatedly plead with him to reconsider,” he said. “I feel a deep, heartfelt sorrow for the pain and confusion the people suffered due to the martial law declaration.”
Reflecting on his 55-year public career – from economic bureaucrat to two-term prime minister – Han’s lawyers pleaded for leniency, citing his age, frail health and history of national service.
They argued that he neither endorsed martial law nor recognised any insurrection.
Meanwhile, in a separate courtroom on Wednesday, a close aide to Yoon’s wife Kim Keon-hee admitted she had lied – at Kim’s request – about the Chanel handbags the former first lady received from the Unification Church as bribes in 2022.
Another team of special prosecutors investigating Kim has reportedly uncovered text messages pressing then justice minister Park Sung-jae to act against Supreme Court chief Kim Myeong-soo, an ally of former liberal president Moon Jae-in, while urging delays of investigations involving herself.

Prosecutors later abruptly dropped the case against Kim, citing insufficient evidence.
She also questioned prosecutors about cases targeting the wives of Moon and then opposition leader Lee Jae-myung – both accused by Yoon’s supporters of corruption – fuelling criticism that she was unlawfully influencing state affairs.
Kim remains in custody on multiple corruption and influence-peddling charges.


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South Korea

South Korea awaits Han Duck-soo ruling as test case for martial law trials

Former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo arrives at court for his final hearing on insurrection charges on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Former prime minister Han Duck-soo (centre) arrives for the closing hearing of his case at Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

A protester wears a mask of former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol during a rally in Seoul on July 9. Photo: AP

Former first lady Kim Keon-hee arrives for her first trial hearing on corruption charges on September 24. Photo: EPA

Was Kim Keon-hee the catalyst for South Korea’s martial law crisis?

Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee attend a dinner in Madrid, Spain, in 2022. Photo: Handout

Kim Keon-hee (centre) attends her first trial hearing on corruption charges at Seoul Central District Court on September 24. Photo: AFP

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his wife Kim Hea-kyung arrive back in South Korea on Wednesday following a state visit overseas. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

South Korea’s then president Yoon Suk-yeol enjoys a glass of wine during a state dinner at the White House in 2023. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

South Korea’s Yoon had dictatorial mindset well before martial law decree: leaked papers

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol attends his impeachment trial on February 11. Photo: AP

A protester wears a mask of former president Yoon Suk-yeol during a rally near the Seoul Central District Court on July 9. Photo: AP.

Yoon Suk-yeol (left) stands next to his newly appointed defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, on September 6, 2024. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

Balloons with leaflets scattered by South Korea in areas near the border can be seen in this picture released by North Korean state media on November 17, 2024. Photo: KCNA/AFP

Martial law fallout spreads to South Korea’s spy service as ex-chief detained

Cho Tae-yong, a former chief of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, appears at the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Yoon Suk-yeol, wearing an Air Force jacket, poses for a photo with military top brass in May 2022. Photo Yonhap/dpa

Police stand guard near the South Korean Presidential Office in Seoul early on December 4 after Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law. Photo: AFP

Investigators execute a warrant to detain former prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn (centre) at his residence in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

South Korea’s Yoon planned to capture, kill political rivals: court

Posters displaying images of Yoon Suk-yeol calling for his ousting are seen in Seoul on December 5, 2024, days after his declaration of martial law. Photo: AFP

Employees of the National Assembly in Seoul spray a fire extinguisher towards soldiers in the early hours of the morning on December 4 after Yoon’s martial law decree. Photo: Yonhap/AP

Kwak Jong-keun, then chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, answers lawmakers’ questions related to Yoon’s martial law decree at the National Assembly in Seoul on December 10. Photo: AFP

South Korea’s Yoon tried to goad North into attacking to justify martial law: prosecutors

An American soldier observes a South Korean AH-64 Apache helicopter firing rockets during a live-fire exercise in Pocheon, near the inter-Korean border, on October 30, 2024. Photo: AFP

A South Korean multiple launch rocket system takes part in a live-fire drill in the border county of Goseong on October 17, 2024, mere weeks before Yoon’s martial law declaration. Photo: South Korean Defence Ministry/AFP

A South Korean drone is seen in an undisclosed location after being recovered by North Korea in October last year. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP 

Yoon Suk-yeol pictured with Yeo In-hyung (left), the ex-president’s now jailed intelligence chief, in November 2023. Photo: Korea Presidential Press Corps

Park Ji-young, a prosecutor from the special counsel team investigating Yoon, addresses a press conference on Monday. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

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The former prime minister would be the first person sentenced in connection with the decree. Prosecutors have demanded a 15-year prison term


The former prime minister would be the first person sentenced in connection with the decree. Prosecutors have demanded a 15-year prison term.


South Korea awaits Han Duck-soo ruling as test case for martial law trials

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The former prime minister would be the first person sentenced in connection with the decree. Prosecutors have demanded a 15-year prison term

The former prime minister would be the first person sentenced in connection with the decree. Prosecutors have demanded a 15-year prison term