Overview
- The Seoul Central District Court found Han played a key role by manufacturing the appearance of a lawful Cabinet process for the Dec. 3, 2024 decree, calling the episode a top-down insurrection.
- Judges also convicted Han of perjury and forging a martial law document, citing efforts to backdate and later destroy records tied to the decree.
- The 23-year term exceeded the 15 years prosecutors requested, and the nationally televised ruling marked the first judicial finding that the decree constituted an insurrection.
- Han was taken into custody immediately and transferred to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang; his lawyers plan to appeal.
- Prosecutors seek the death penalty in Yoon’s separate insurrection case, with a ruling due Feb. 19, and legal observers say Wednesday’s reasoning will be a benchmark.