Ex-SK PM Han Duck-soo jailed 23 years for martial law insurrection
Ex-SK PM Han Duck-soo jailed 23 years for martial law insurrection
Seoul court delivers a 23-year sentence to former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in the 2024 martial law case, marking a landmark ruling on presidential decrees and democratic safeguards.
A Seoul court on Wednesday sentenced former prime minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison for his role in an insurrection linked to former president Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law decree in December 2024. The judge, Lee Jin-kwan, ordered Han's immediate detention. The verdict marks the first judicial ruling that the martial law decree amounted to an insurrection. Han, 76, has the right to appeal. The court found that Han, as prime minister, had a constitutional duty to prevent the insurrection but instead 'chose to join' it.
Evidence presented showed that Han helped ensure the meeting had the minimum quorum necessary to rubber-stamp the decree while severing meaningful deliberation. Among the most damaging items was an 8 December phone call in which Han told a presidential aide to destroy a backdated martial law document, saying: 'Let's make it as if my signature never existed.' CCTV footage reportedly captured him nodding as Yoon explained the plan and receiving documents including the martial law proclamation. The court also found Han guilty of creating false documents, destroying presidential records and perjury during Yoon's impeachment proceedings.
In delivering the verdict, the judge rejected using precedents from past military coups as sentencing guides, calling the episode a 'self-coup' by elected power that posed unique dangers to democracy. The ruling underscores what prosecutors described as a constitutional violation with far-reaching implications for accountability at the highest levels of government. Han's sentence cements a historic moment in South Korea's political-legal landscape, a test case for how democracy responds to crisis-driven power grabs.
Observers say the outcome could influence future political accountability and underscore the judiciary's role in guarding democratic norms, even amid entrenched political rivalries. Han is 76 and will pursue any available appeal channels while the country awaits the next steps in a case that continues to roil Korean politics.
