The appeals trial over the Dec. 3 martial law case involving former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will begin on Mar. 5. Han was taken into custody in court after being sentenced in the first trial to 23 years in prison on charges including engaging in key duties in an insurrection.
According to legal sources on the 26th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 12-1 (High Court Judges Lee Seung-cheol, Cho Jin-gu and Kim Min-a) will hold the first pretrial preparation session at 2 p.m. on Mar. 5 for Han's case on charges including engaging in key duties in an insurrection and drafting false official documents. A pretrial preparation session is a procedure to sort out issues, evidence and proof plans before a full trial, and unlike a formal court hearing, the defendant is not required to appear.
The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 12, together with Criminal Division 1, is a panel that exclusively handles cases of insurrection, treason, rebellion or related matters.
Earlier, the first-instance court sentenced Han to 23 years in prison. That is eight years longer than the 15-year prison term sought by the special prosecutor for the insurrection case. The first-instance court viewed Han as a principal offender on the charge of engaging in key duties in an insurrection, found Han guilty and imposed a heavy sentence.
Regarding the reasons for sentencing, the court said, "As prime minister, there was a constitutional duty to check former President Yoon Suk-yeol's arbitrary abuse of power, yet the unlawful proclamation of martial law was not stopped." Immediately after delivering the verdict, the court ordered Han detained in court, citing concerns about destruction of evidence. It was assessed as the first time in constitutional history that a former prime minister was taken into custody in a courtroom.
The court also found Han guilty of signing the post-facto martial law proclamation and then discarding it. In addition, the court found Han guilty of perjury for testifying as a witness at the Constitutional Court's presidential impeachment trial hearing in Feb. 2024 to the effect that Han "did not recognize the martial law proclamation."
The court also stressed the gravity of the Dec. 3 martial law. The court determined that "the Dec. 3 martial law constitutes a loyalist coup" and concluded that stern punishment is necessary. It also said that as an "insurrection from above," its danger is incomparably greater than an "insurrection from below." The court said, "It appears that the economic and political shock caused by a loyalist coup occurring in the Republic of Korea would be incomparable to previous acts of insurrection."
However, the court found Han not guilty on the charge of checking, through then Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination Bang Ki-seon and others, whether the National Assembly had been notified for the purpose of meeting procedural requirements for proclaiming martial law, and on the charge of delaying a Cabinet deliberation to lift martial law.