On Thursday, the Seoul High Court delivered a second-instance verdict in the insurrection case involving former South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
Previously, in November 2025, South Korea’s Special Prosecutor for Insurrection requested the court to sentence Han Duck-soo to 15 years in prison on charges including “collaborative insurrection.” On January 21, 2026, the Seoul Central District Court delivered the first-instance verdict, sentencing Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison. Subsequently, Han Duck-soo appealed the first verdict.
On the evening of December 3, 2024, then South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol issued an emergency martial law order, citing the need to eliminate “anti-national forces.” In the early hours of the following day, the South Korean National Assembly passed a resolution demanding the lifting of the martial law order. Afterwards, Yoon Suk-yeol was successively suspended from office, arrested, and impeached. In August 2025, the special prosecutor indicted Han Duck-soo on charges including assisting in insurrection, fabricating false documents, damaging public records, and perjury.