A five-year prison term was sought for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was put on trial on charges of failing to appoint a Constitutional Court justice and nominating other candidates while acting as president after the Dec. 3 martial law declaration.
On the 28th, during the closing arguments in the case against the former prime minister on charges including dereliction of duty, held before the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan), Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-suk's team on insurrection asked the court to sentence him to five years in prison. The special prosecution team also sought four-year prison terms each for former Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok and former Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim Ju-hyun, and a three-year term for former Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Discipline Lee Won-mo.
The former prime minister is accused of dereliction of duty for failing to appoint a Constitutional Court justice recommended by the National Assembly while serving as acting president after former President Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached in the National Assembly in Dec. 2024.
In April last year, he was also charged with abuse of power and obstruction of another's rights for nominating Ham Sang-hoon and Lee Wan-kyu as Constitutional Court justice candidates without proper vetting. Former Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong, former Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim, and former Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Discipline Lee were indicted together for participating in these decisions.
The Constitutional Court is composed of nine justices appointed by the president. Of these, three are designated by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and three are elected by the National Assembly and then appointed by the president. Three are designated by the president and appointed.
When the impeachment motion against then-President Yoon Suk-yeol passed the National Assembly on Dec. 14, 2024, there were only six Constitutional Court justices. That was because three justices recommended by the National Assembly retired on Oct. 17 of the same year after completing their six-year terms, and successors had not been appointed.
At the time, the People Power Party argued that the customary practice should be followed in which each party recommends one candidate and one is recommended by bipartisan agreement. But the Democratic Party of Korea, then the opposition, argued that based on seat ratios, the opposition should recommend two and the ruling party one.
Under the Constitutional Court Act, at least seven justices must be present to hear a case, but to prevent proceedings from halting, the Constitutional Court granted an injunction suspending the effect of that provision, allowing cases to be heard with six justices.
On Dec. 26, 2024, the National Assembly passed motions consenting to the appointments of Constitutional Court justice candidates Ma Eun-hyeok and Jeong Gye-seon (recommended by the Democratic Party) and Cho Han-chang (recommended by the People Power Party). However, then–Acting President Han Duck-soo said he would delay appointing the justices on the condition of "bipartisan agreement," and the National Assembly also passed an impeachment motion against Acting President Han.
Afterward, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok assumed the role of acting president and appointed only Jeong Gye-seon and Cho Han-chang. He withheld the appointment of Ma Eun-hyeok, saying bipartisan agreement was needed.
The Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment motion against the former prime minister on Mar. 24 last year. After returning as acting president, the former prime minister appointed Ma Eun-hyeok, whose status had been on hold, as a Constitutional Court justice on Apr. 8 last year.
On the same day, the former prime minister nominated then–Ministry of Government Legislation chief Lee Wan-kyu and Seoul High Court Director General Judge Ham Sang-hoon to succeed Acting Constitutional Court President Moon Hyung-bae, who was set to retire upon completing his term, and Justice Lee Mi-seon. Until then, the former prime minister had not appointed Ma Eun-hyeok, saying there was no "exclusive presidential authority," but controversy arose when that authority was exercised to nominate two new candidates. Former Ministry of Government Legislation chief Lee Wan-kyu was also a close aide to former President Yoon Suk-yeol.
President Lee Jae-myung, on the second day of taking office, June 5 last year, withdrew the nominations of Lee Wan-kyu and Ham Sang-hoon. The Blue House at the time said, "President Lee withdrew the nominations (of the two candidates) that the former prime minister made without authority."
The special prosecutor's team argued regarding the nominations and appointments of Constitutional Court justices that "the defendant (the former prime minister) brought the nation to a halt by failing to appoint the justices and then abused the nomination power to block the people's choice."
They continued, "After Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from office, Han Duck-soo, Jeong Jin-seok, Kim Ju-hyun and Lee Won-mo decided to nominate Yoon Suk-yeol's closest aides as Constitutional Court justices in the president's quota," adding, "They had neither the time nor the will to vet the candidates." They said, "By taking measures completely opposite to the earlier (non-nomination) actions, they infringed on popular sovereignty."