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Ex-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo attends 1st hearing of insurrection trial

Published: 30 Sep. 2025, 12:16

Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo appears for questioning at the office of special counsel Min Joong-ki's team, which is investigating allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, at the KT Gwanghwamun Building in Jongno District, Seoul, on Sept. 9. [YONHAP]

Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday attended the first hearing of his trial on charges of abetting former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed imposition of martial law.

Han has been indicted on charges of abetting the ringleader of an insurrection in connection with the martial law imposition in December, perjury and falsifying official documents, among other offenses.

Upon arriving at the Seoul Central District Court, he entered the building without answering reporters' questions.

The hearing will be broadcast online after personal information is anonymized, as special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team had requested with the bench's approval.

Both the special counsel team and Han's side will give opening remarks.

An examination of evidence will follow using surveillance camera footage of the presidential office on Dec. 3, when Han allegedly left the Cabinet meeting room with papers printed with the martial law declaration and Yoon's address to the nation.

Han was one of the attendees at a Cabinet meeting held shortly before Yoon declared martial law that day.

The special counsel team has requested, however, that the footage examination be excluded from the broadcast out of national security considerations as the video is classified as a Grade 3 military secret.

In addition to abetting the martial law imposition, Han's indictment accuses him of drafting a revised proclamation after Dec. 3 with the aim of enhancing the legitimacy of the decree and later destroying it.

He also stands accused of lying under oath at the Constitutional Court and the National Assembly that he was not aware Yoon had given him a copy of the martial law declaration until after the decree was lifted.

Yonhap