The Seoul Central District Court is set to deliver a verdict on Wednesday on charges that former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo abetted former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law imposition. Han will be the first member of Yoon's Cabinet to face sentencing over the December 3, 2024, emergency order. Prosecutors seek a 15-year prison term, while Han denies the allegations.
The Seoul Central District Court is scheduled to hold a sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, with the proceedings to be televised live. Han faces charges of abetting the ringleader of an insurrection, playing a key role in an insurrection, and perjury, all tied to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law on December 3, 2024. That emergency order lasted just six hours before the National Assembly voted to lift it.
Prosecutors allege that Han attended a Cabinet meeting shortly before the declaration and later signed a revised proclamation drafted to bolster its legitimacy, only to discard it. He is also accused of lying under oath at the Constitutional Court. Special counsel team leader Cho Eun-suk has demanded a 15-year prison term, arguing that as the government's No. 2 official, Han had a duty to prevent the president's arbitrary power grab but instead participated in acts before and after the declaration.
Han has denied the charges, stating he had no prior knowledge of the martial law plans beyond the declaration itself and never agreed to or assisted with it.
The ruling could be pivotal in establishing whether the martial law decree amounted to an insurrection under the Constitution, defined as an act to remove state authority from part or all of the country or a riot aimed at subverting the Constitution.
Yoon's trial on leading the insurrection wrapped up last week, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty; his verdict is due on February 19. This case marks a significant moment in South Korea's ongoing political reckoning.
