‘23-Year Prison Term’ Han Duck-soo’s Appeal Trial in Full Swing... Han Says, “I Never Took Part in an Insurrectionary Uprising”

[Financial News] The appeal trial for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison at first instance for allegedly taking part in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s December 3 emergency martial law declaration, has now begun in earnest.
Criminal Division 12-1 of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Judge Lee Seung-cheol with Judge Kim Mina as the associate judge, held the first hearing on the 11th for Han, who is charged with participation in an insurrection in a key role. This division has been designated as the Special Panel for Insurrection Cases.
Before starting the substantive hearing, the court first granted a request from the Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, to broadcast the proceedings. However, it declined to allow full broadcasting of the testimony of some witnesses scheduled to appear in the afternoon.
The special prosecutor team challenged the first-instance court’s acquittals on several of Han’s charges. The lower court had found him not guilty regarding the alleged drafting and use of a post hoc emergency martial law proclamation, his phone call with then People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho after the declaration, his acceptance of Yoon Suk Yeol’s request to stand in for the president at official events, and his alleged dismissal of a recommendation by the Minister for Government Policy Coordination to convene a Cabinet meeting after the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea voted to demand the lifting of martial law.
The special prosecutor team argued, “For the offense of drafting and using a false official document, it is not necessary that actual damage to trust occur; it is sufficient that there is a risk of such harm,” adding, “Placing the document in the presidential office must be seen as keeping it in a state where it could be used at any time.” They went on to say, “The phone call with then floor leader Choo Kyung-ho was an act that gave assurance that emergency martial law would continue,” and added, “It should be viewed as monitoring the situation in the National Assembly and blocking a resolution to lift emergency martial law.”
Han’s defense team stated that he had tried to persuade and dissuade former President Yoon Suk Yeol, but failed to stop him, and that Han fully acknowledges his responsibility for that failure.
However, apart from the perjury charge, they denied all remaining allegations brought by the special prosecutor and insisted he is not guilty. Han’s side argued, “Former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law unilaterally toward the Cabinet members, despite their repeated attempts to dissuade him and their refusals,” and continued, “We have not the slightest intention of evading responsibility before history for former President Yoon’s unconstitutional and unlawful emergency martial law. But we never took part in a violent insurrectionary uprising with the purpose of undermining the constitutional order.”
They further contended that the original judgment was based on legal and factual misunderstandings. Referring to the first-instance ruling in which Yoon received a life sentence, they noted, “In the first-instance judgment against former President Yoon, the court held that if a person took part only in procedures or the use of force, without recognizing or sharing the purpose of undermining the constitutional order, that person should not bear collective liability for the crime of insurrection, but only separate criminal responsibility.” They continued, “Yet in Han’s first-instance trial, the court concluded that he participated in insurrection on the premise that if the president’s declaration of emergency martial law does not meet substantive and procedural requirements, insurrection is immediately established. This reasoning is not legally sound.”
On January 26, Criminal Division 33 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Lee Jin-gwan, sentenced Han to 23 years in prison for participation in an insurrection in a key role and related charges. Han was indicted on allegations that he learned in advance of former President Yoon’s plan to declare emergency martial law on the night of December 3, 2024, but neither stopped it nor opposed it, instead lending his support. He also faced charges that included: discussing with Lee Sang-min, former Minister of the Interior and Safety, the execution of orders to blockade the National Assembly and cut off power and water to media outlets; drafting and later destroying the martial law proclamation after the fact; and committing perjury before the Constitutional Court of Korea.
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter