SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean appellate court reduced former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s prison sentence from 19 years to 15 years on Thursday, upholding the underlying conviction for abuse of power related to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree while introducing a new layer of legal nuance to one of the country’s most consequential political trials.
The Seoul High Court’s ruling preserves Han’s status as a convicted figure in the December 2024 martial law crisis — a period in which Yoon briefly imposed emergency rule on the nation before a parliamentary revolt ended it within hours. But the reduced sentence, experts say, reflects a judicial distinction between Han’s administrative role and Yoon’s direct orchestration of the decree itself.
The Legal Distinction That Shaped the Ruling
Han, 85, served as prime minister during the December 2024 martial law imposition and was accused of co-signing cabinet orders that enabled Yoon’s decree to carry a veneer of constitutional legitimacy. Prosecutors had sought 22 years, arguing Han’s decades of government experience made his complicity especially egregious.
The appellate panel, in its written ruling, acknowledged Han’s advanced age and limited evidence of direct personal benefit from the martial law orders. The court stopped short of exonerating him, affirming that Han’s signature on the relevant documents constituted a concrete and measurable contribution to the erosion of democratic order.
This court finds that the appellant occupied a structural position that amplified the harm of the president’s decree, even absent explicit instructions from him. The sentence must reflect that contribution while accounting for the distinction between leadership and execution.
Legal analysts noted the ruling’s careful language — a win for prosecutors in preserving the conviction, a partial victory for Han’s defense in trimming the sentence, and a signal to future courts navigating the post-martial-law accountability process.
Han Duck-soo’s Fall From Grace After Six Decades in Government
Han Duck-soo’s political career spanned six decades, including multiple stints as prime minister and senior minister under various administrations. Once considered a pillar of institutional stability, his association with Yoon’s martial law episode shattered that legacy in a matter of weeks.
His defense team had argued throughout the appeals process that Han acted under institutional compulsion — that as prime minister, he was obligated to co-sign executive orders regardless of personal disagreement, and that punishing him for complying with a chain of command set a dangerous precedent for civil servants facing unconstitutional directives from above.
The court acknowledged this argument in its reasoning but rejected its central premise, noting that Han’s constitutional knowledge and experience placed him in a unique position to resist rather than enable Yoon’s decree.
What the Ruling Means for Yoon Suk Yeol’s Own Trial
The appellate decision carries implications beyond Han’s personal fate. Yoon’s own trial on insurrection charges — the most serious count he faces, carrying a potential death penalty or life imprisonment — continues separately. Legal observers say Thursday’s ruling effectively draws a legal boundary between Yoon’s role as the originating author of the martial law decree and the institutional figures who facilitated its implementation.
This is the court telling us that the president’s co-signers are guilty, but not equally guilty, said Professor Kim Ji-woo of Seoul National University’s School of Law. That distinction will matter enormously in Yoon’s own trial, where the prosecution needs to prove specific intent, not just administrative participation.
Yoon was formally arrested in January 2025 and remains in detention. His trial is expected to continue through the second half of 2026.
Political Fallout and the Fractured Opposition Landscape
For Han personally, the reduced sentence offers limited comfort. At 85, even the trimmed 15-year term likely means he will spend the remainder of his life in prison. His political career is irretrievably ended, and his legacy as a steward of South Korean democratic institutions has been rewritten by a single months-long period of catastrophic judgment.
For the broader South Korean opposition, Thursday’s ruling underscores the ongoing fragility of the country’s democratic institutions. The martial law crisis of 2024 exposed how quickly constitutional norms can buckle under a determined executive — and how long the legal and political fallout can last.
What we are watching is not simply a legal process. It is a reckoning with the question of how a democracy allows itself to be suspended, and who bears responsibility for putting it back together, said Park Sun-won, a former Democratic Party strategist not involved in the case.
Rachel Torres contributed reporting from Seoul. Additional reporting by Media Hook wire services.
