Ex-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo sentenced to 15 years in prison on appeal for role in insurrection

Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison on appeal for his role in the botched martial law attempt, a reduction from the 23-year term handed down at trial.

The Seoul High Court upheld the guilty verdicts for the majority of key charges against Han, including participation in an insurrection in a significant capacity.

“The defendant is found to have had the intent to undermine the constitutional order and to have knowingly participated in an insurrection in a significant capacity,” the court said in its ruling.

It found that Han had been involved in staging the cabinet meeting used to provide a procedural veneer for former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, which the court considered his participation in the insurrection. It also determined that Han had influenced efforts to cut off power and water to media outlets during that period.

Han was additionally found guilty on charges related to a backdated martial law proclamation document drafted after the declaration was made, with the court finding evidence of tacit conspiracy in the falsification of the document's cover page. He was also convicted of destroying an official document in connection with the disposal of that backdated proclamation, though the court acquitted him of the separate charge of actually using the falsified document.

The court was pointed in its assessment of Han's conduct. “He abandoned the weighty responsibilities of his office as prime minister and participated in an act of insurrection,” the panel said. “Even after the crime, he appeared preoccupied with evading responsibility.”

Han was indicted in August 2025, on charges of supporting the insurrection led by Yoon and others as the prime minister at the time.

The declaration, which lasted only hours before the National Assembly voted to lift it, triggered one of Korea's most significant constitutional crises in decades.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]