Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo arrives at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, for special counsel questioning on Aug. 22. (Yonhap)
Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo arrives at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, for special counsel questioning on Aug. 22. (Yonhap)

Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is scheduled to appear for a hearing at a Seoul court on Wednesday to present his arguments before the court decides on a warrant for his detention.

The special counsel investigating former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration filed a request for a detention warrant for Han with the Seoul Central District Court on Sunday afternoon.

The special counsel team said it was necessary to detain Han over the allegations against him, citing concerns over evidence tampering, risk of flight and possible recidivism. Allegations against Han include abetting the imposition of martial law, preparation of false public documents, destruction of public documents, perjury and violating the Act on the Management of Presidential Archives.

Han is suspected of failing to prevent and possibly aiding the unconstitutional imposition of martial law while serving as vice chair of the Cabinet meeting held on the night of Dec. 3, 2024.

The former prime minister is believed to have proposed the Cabinet meeting, held before Yoon imposed martial law, to make it appear as though the declaration was made under legal procedures.

The allegation that Han discarded the original martial law document and fabricated a replacement document on Dec. 5, two days after declaring martial law — purportedly to conceal legal flaws in the original — was included in the detention warrant.

According to the special counsel team, Han and then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun reportedly backdated the document to make Yoon’s martial law declaration appear legal. The team also secured testimony from Kang Eui-gu, who at the time was a secretary at the presidential office and drafted the document, insisting that the document was discarded at Han’s request and with Yoon’s approval.

The decision would be in violation of Article 82 of the Constitution, which stipulates that acts of the president under law be executed in writing and that such documents should be signed by the prime minister and Cabinet members concerned.

Han is also accused of perjury for claiming in testimony to the Constitutional Court and the National Assembly that he was unaware of the martial law declaration in printed form until after the decree was lifted.

The former prime minister admitted to receiving the martial law document after the special counsel secured surveillance footage showing him leaving the Cabinet meeting room with copies of the decree.

The special counsel team applied for a warrant to detain Han after conducting three separate questioning sessions on July 2, Aug. 19 and Aug. 22. It also carried out a search and seizure operation at Han’s private residence and the prime minister’s office on July 24.

If the court issues the detention warrant, Han will be the first former prime minister and the third Cabinet member of the Yoon administration to be detained by the investigative agency, following former Defense Minister Kim and former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min.


sj_lee@heraldcorp.com