Han Duck-soo set for release as special prosecutor urges conditions

With the detention period of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo — who faces charges of playing a key role in insurrection — set to expire imminently, the insurrection special prosecutor's team has submitted an opinion to the Supreme Court arguing that any release should come with conditions, including a residential restriction.

The special prosecutor's team filed the opinion Friday with the Supreme Court, which is hearing Han's appeal on the insurrection charges. Han's detention is set to expire Thursday.

The team argued that releasing Han without conditions could make it difficult to track his whereabouts, and that any release must therefore be subject to certain requirements. The special prosecutor's office called for three conditions: a residential restriction, a ban on contacting individuals connected to the case, and a prohibition on attending related rallies or demonstrations.

Han was indicted on charges that, while serving as prime minister during the Dec. 3, 2024, emergency martial law declaration, he failed to check President Yoon Suk-yeol's arbitrary abuse of power and instead participated in the unconstitutional and unlawful imposition of martial law. He also faces charges of having signed and then ordered the destruction of a falsely drafted martial law proclamation document prepared by Kang Eui-gu, former chief of the presidential office's secretariat. Additional charges allege he committed perjury during Yoon's impeachment trial before the Constitutional Court.

The first-instance court sentenced Han to 23 years in prison in January. The second-instance court acquitted him on charges of omission — failing to fulfill his duties — and reduced the sentence to 15 years. Both Han and the special prosecutor's team appealed the second-instance ruling.

Han's case was initially assigned to the Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Oh Kyung-mi. The court subsequently referred both Han's case and that of former Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, who faces the same insurrection charges, to the full bench in August. The Supreme Court will hold its second en banc hearing on the two cases Thursday.

Meanwhile, Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 33 will deliver its first-instance verdict in a separate case against Han on Nov. 30. Han was additionally indicted in connection with allegations that he failed to appoint Constitutional Court justices or rushed their appointments. The special prosecutor's team submitted a separate opinion to that court Thursday warning that Han's release could disrupt the proceedings.