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Han Duck-soo, the former prime minister of South Korea, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in the city’s Seocho District on Jan. 21, 2026, for the reading of the verdict in his trial of engaging in essential activities in service of an insurrection for his role in the declaration of martial law by former President Yoon Suk-yeol. (Yonhap)

Han Duck-soo, the former prime minister of South Korea, was immediately taken into custody after being sentenced to 23 years in prison for participating in the commission of the insurrection on Dec. 3, 2024. 

This sentence is heavier than the 15-year prison term sought by prosecutors, and even exceeds the sentence given to Roh Tae-woo for his 1979 coup d’etat with Chun Doo-hwan, commonly referred to as the Dec. 12 military insurrection. 

The court stated that the 2024 martial law declaration was “an insurrection from the top, or what is known as a self-coup, by Yoon and his followers.” Judge Lee Jin-gwan justified the stiff sentence by adding that “an insurrection by an elected leader shakes the very foundation of the people’s belief in democracy.” 

This was precisely what citizens hoping for judicial condemnation of Yoon and his coconspirators wanted to hear. The court properly responded to the public’s demands for severe punishment of insurrectionary forces.

Lee’s explanation for the verdict delivered on Wednesday resembled a lesson on the Korean Constitution. Lee defined the Dec. 3 martial law declaration as a riot aimed at undermining the constitutional order. He dismissed Yoon and his followers’ claims that the declaration was intended to “enlighten” or “warn” the public as mere sophistry aiming to evade responsibility. Importantly, the court stated that an insurrection instigated by the president is more dangerous than one triggered by the people. This is because a top-down insurrection betrays the public’s faith in democracy and the rule of law. 

The court stressed that the reckless activities of far-right forces — who cited “the people’s right to resist” as they rioted at the Seoul Western District Court in 2025 and spread baseless election fraud conspiracy theories — were all byproducts of Yoon’s self-coup. 

Moreover, the shockwaves from this insurrection were far greater than those from the coup which occurred 45 years ago, given the incomparably different standing Korea now has in international politics. In this context, the court stated, “Previous Supreme Court rulings on insurrection cannot serve as a benchmark for determining the level of punishment for participants in the Dec. 3 insurrection,” asserting that heavier sentences must be imposed. 

This is a matter-of-fact, clear-cut decision. It is only regrettable that such a sensible ruling could not be made earlier.

The court stated that Han, as the second-in-command of state affairs, failed to fulfill his responsibility to dissuade the president from acts that trampled on the constitutional order. The trial revealed that the former prime minister chose to join Yoon’s efforts instead, under the misguided belief that Yoon’s insurrection would succeed. This nearly plunged Korea back into a dark past where citizens’ fundamental rights were violated and democracy was torn to shreds. 

Yet Han did not reflect on his wrongs or apologize for them. He concealed his crimes and obfuscated the truth about the insurrection. A career bureaucrat who has held titles of minister and prime minister for years, Han is a typical example of the distorted elite of our society. We must never allow such bureaucrats to emerge again.

It is also noteworthy that the judge mentioned the ordinary Koreans who stamped out the Dec. 3 insurrection, the military and police who offered passive resistance, and the politicians who voted to lift the state of emergency. The insurrection ended swiftly thanks to their efforts, not because it was a mere warning as Yoon and his allies claim. 

The people now await Judge Jee Kui-youn to make his decision on the trial of Yoon Suk-yeol. We hope Jee’s court will also bring Yoon, the ringleader of the insurrection, to justice in accordance with the Constitution and the law.

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