SEOUL: A South Korean appeals court reduced the sentence of former prime minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday (May 7) by eight years for crimes relating to ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration.
Yoon’s decree in December 2024 briefly suspended civilian rule and plunged South Korea into chaos, but only lasted around six hours as opposition lawmakers moved quickly to overturn it in a vote.
A lower court had sentenced Han in January to a heavier-than-expected jail term of 23 years for engaging in the declaration.
An appeals court in the capital Seoul cut that by eight years on Thursday, with the presiding judge announcing: “We sentence the defendant to 15 years in prison.”
The court still maintained most of Han’s convictions, but lessened the penalties after taking into account his “more than 50 years as a public official prior to the martial law declaration”.
“The records also make it difficult to find evidence showing that the defendant participated more actively in the insurrection, such as by conspiring in advance or systematically leading the operation,” the judge said.
However, he said Han had “abandoned the grave responsibilities arising from the authority and position entrusted to him and instead sided with those participating in the acts of insurrection”.
After MPs passed the motion to lift martial law, Han convened and presided over a cabinet meeting on Yoon’s behalf to rescind it, the court said.
Han, wearing a white shirt and a dark suit with no tie, listened to the verdict without showing much emotion.
The judge chided Han for failing to oppose Yoon despite having witnessed illegal suspensions of civilian rule in the 1970s and ’80s while serving as a government official during South Korea’s authoritarian era.
“He had experienced unconstitutional and unlawful martial law measures and insurrectionary situations himself, and was therefore well aware of the extensive damage and chaos such events could cause, as well as their seriousness and gravity,” he said.
Han, 76, has been imprisoned since his original sentence in January.
The career technocrat formerly served in various other government roles, including finance minister, and the court noted his “multiple” awards for services to the South Korean state.