The special counsel for insurrection asked the court to sentence former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is charged with aiding the leader of an insurrection, to 15 years in prison.
The special counsel team for insurrection led by Cho Eun-suk, which is investigating insurrection charges related to the Dec. 3 martial law, requested this sentence at the closing hearing of the case on charges including aiding the leader of an insurrection, engaging in important duties of an insurrection, and perjury against the former prime minister, held on the 26th before the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan).
The special counsel team said, "As prime minister, the defendant had a duty to check and control the president's wrongful exercise of power," adding, "Nevertheless, on the day martial law was declared, Dec. 3, 2024, the defendant abandoned the prime minister's duty as a servant of the entire people and assisted former President Yoon Suk-yeol in the unconstitutional and unlawful act of declaring martial law."
It continued, "The following should be considered in sentencing: the attempt to cure procedural defects through ex post facto departments to secure the legitimacy of the Dec. 3 martial law; the additional commission of crimes with the nature of obstruction of justice, such as drafting false official documents; and the consistent uncooperative attitude, including recanting statements, showing no remorse."
Regarding the Dec. 3 martial law, the special counsel team said, "It is a terror attack on Korea's democracy, and the state and the entire people are the victims," adding, "The defendant must be severely punished so that unhappy history is never repeated in Korea."
The court will then hear the defense's arguments and the final statement from the former prime minister.
Park Ji-young, an assistant special counsel on the special counsel team for insurrection, said at a briefing that the decision to seek 15 years in prison for the former prime minister "fully considered the changed circumstances of the times compared with past sentences related to insurrection." Park added, "This will serve as the standard for all future sentencing requests in trials."
Earlier, the former prime minister was indicted on Aug. 29 on charges of failing to stop and aiding the unlawful declaration of martial law. The former prime minister is also accused of signing, along with former President Yoon Suk-yeol, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and others, the ex post facto proclamation drafted by former presidential secretary Kang Ui-gu on Dec. 5 last year to remedy legal defects in the initial martial law proclamation, and then discarding it.
There is also a charge that in February the former prime minister committed perjury by testifying as a witness during the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of the president to the effect that the former prime minister "did not recognize the martial law proclamation."
The court plans to hand down the sentence to the former prime minister on Jan. 21 or 28 next year. The former prime minister will be the first among the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's Cabinet members indicted on insurrection charges to receive a first-instance ruling.