Overview
- A Seoul district court convicted Han Duck-soo for his role in the December 2024 crisis and imposed a 23-year sentence, exceeding the 15 years prosecutors sought.
- The court found Han forged and signed a decree three days after the declaration to retroactively legitimize it and failed to convene a lawful cabinet meeting.
- Security forces arrested the 76-year-old in the courtroom, making him the first cabinet member convicted in connection with the episode.
- The ruling formally characterizes the martial-law declaration as an uprising aimed at nullifying the constitution, establishing a precedent for related prosecutions.
- Former president Yoon Suk-yeol faces a separate verdict on February 19 with prosecutors seeking the death penalty after a different case yielded a five-year sentence last week, though executions have not been carried out for decades.