Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo appeared in court on the 27th to undergo a pre-arrest suspect examination. It is the first time in constitutional history that a former Prime Minister is undergoing a review of an arrest warrant. The decision on whether to issue the warrant is expected to be revealed as early as that night or, at the latest, by dawn on the 28th.
Former Prime Minister Han arrived at the Seoul Central District Court at around 1:18 p.m. He did not respond to reporters' questions such as 'Did you call the cabinet members to justify the martial law?' 'Why did you lie about not receiving the proclamation document all this time?' 'Was your presidential bid to avoid the investigation?' and 'Why did you talk with People Power Party lawmaker Choi Kyung-ho on the day of the martial law?' before entering the courtroom.
Judge Jeong Jae-wook, who was in charge of the warrant review at the Seoul Central District Court, proceeded with the examination of the arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Han, who is facing charges of aiding and abetting a rebellion, starting at 1:30 p.m. The session concluded around 4:55 p.m., after approximately 3 hours and 25 minutes. Former Prime Minister Han was then moved to the Seoul Detention Center to await the results of the examination.
In the special investigation for the rebellion, eight prosecutors, including Kim Hyung-soo, participated in the examination that day. Special Prosecutor Park Ji-young noted during a briefing that on the 25th, they submitted a 362-page opinion to the court and prepared a total of 160 pages of presentations that day. It is also said that they plan to present closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to prove charges such as perjury. Special Prosecutor Park said, 'We will emphasize the seriousness of the crime, the concerns about evidence destruction, etc. during today's examination.'
Previously, on the 24th, the special investigation team for the rebellion applied for an arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Han on six charges, including aiding and abetting a rebellion, creating and using a false official document, violating the Presidential Records Management Act, damaging public documents, and perjury.
Former Prime Minister Han is accused of having participated in or aided the declaration of a state of emergency by former President Yoon Suk-yeol on December 3rd last year. There are allegations that he did not stop the unconstitutional and illegal declaration of emergency by former President Yoon and instead suggested convening a cabinet meeting to provide formal legitimacy to the martial law.
Additionally, former Prime Minister Han is also suspected of being involved in the process of drafting and then discarding a new martial law proclamation after President Yoon declared a state of emergency. It is reported that after signing a document prepared by former Chief of Staff of the President, Kang Yi-goo, Han requested that it be disregarded, saying, 'If the fact of preparing the post-event document becomes known, it could cause controversy.' Subsequently, this document was ultimately discarded.
Moreover, former Prime Minister Han is also facing allegations of perjury for stating in the impeachment trial of President Yoon and in the National Assembly that he 'was not aware of the martial law proclamation.'