https://www.scmp.com/rss/522894/feed The latest news and top stories on Han Duck-soo. A South Korean diplomat economist and politician, he has held numerous high-level government positions, including serving twice as the nation’s leader. His extensive career spans roles such as Minister of Economy and Finance, Minister of Trade Affairs and Ambassador to the United States. Recently, his involvement has become central to the expanded investigation concerning former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s attempted martial law declaration, where he... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com David D. Lee David D. Lee It began with a late-night declaration of martial law and has ended, for now, with a gavel. In the 443 days between those two moments, South Korea’s democracy was tested in ways most countries never experience. Citizens formed human chains to block troops from reaching the National Assembly. Lawmakers rushed through corridors in the dead of night to kill the martial law decree by vote. The Constitutional Court upheld a president’s impeachment. Millions took to the streets in protest. A new... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344617/what-yoons-life-sentence-means-south-korean-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344617/what-yoons-life-sentence-means-south-korean-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong Two recent convictions tied to Yoon Suk-yeol’s short-lived 2024 martial law decree have effectively sealed his fate, some legal observers say, as judges prepare to rule on the insurrection charge against the former South Korean president. On Thursday, a three-judge panel at the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 25 is set to deliver its verdict and sentence on the 65-year-old, weighing the prosecution’s request for the death penalty and any mitigating factors. The ruling will test... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343837/south-koreas-yoon-awaits-verdict-insurrection-rulings-mount-game-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343837/south-koreas-yoon-awaits-verdict-insurrection-rulings-mount-game-over?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:11 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong Former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo’s conviction and unexpectedly harsh prison sentence have sent shock waves through the political establishment and darkened the outlook for impeached ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, who faces his own insurrection verdict next month. Analysts say the ruling dismantles Yoon’s legal narrative that his short-lived martial law decree was a legitimate exercise of presidential authority and signals that the courts are prepared to impose heavy penalties for... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3340769/fate-south-koreas-yoon-almost-foregone-conclusion-after-hans-shock-prison-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3340769/fate-south-koreas-yoon-almost-foregone-conclusion-after-hans-shock-prison-term?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 04:00:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A South Korean court sentenced former prime minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison on Wednesday for aiding and abetting a declaration of martial law that briefly suspended civilian rule. The defendant “disregarded his duty and responsibility as prime minister until the very end”, said Judge Lee Jin-gwan of the Seoul Central District Court. “We sentence the defendant to 23 years in prison.” The sentence is eight years longer than prosecutors’ demand. The 76-year-old career technocrat was... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3340661/south-koreas-ex-pm-han-gets-23-years-prison-insurrection-tied-martial-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3340661/south-koreas-ex-pm-han-gets-23-years-prison-insurrection-tied-martial-law?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 06:26:49 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong Prosecutors on Friday demanded a 10-year prison sentence for former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol in the first of four trials linked to his failed attempt to impose martial law, as a potential ruling against Yoon next month could keep him behind bars even before his most serious case is concluded. This first case focuses on Yoon’s actions before and after the martial law decree was issued on December 3 last year, including obstructing his arrest, bypassing Cabinet procedures and forging... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337790/south-koreas-ex-president-yoon-faces-10-year-jail-over-first-4-failed-coup-trials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337790/south-koreas-ex-president-yoon-faces-10-year-jail-over-first-4-failed-coup-trials?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:08:07 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong A court ruling on the case of former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo in January next year will serve as a bellwether for others charged over impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed martial law decree, observers say. On Wednesday, the special counsel team investigating insurrection charges related to Yoon’s December 3 decree demanded a 15-year prison term for Han, the 77-year-old political veteran accused of helping “mastermind” the attempted self-coup. Senior Judge Lee... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3334320/fate-south-koreas-han-duck-soo-set-tone-yoon-others-martial-law-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3334320/fate-south-koreas-han-duck-soo-set-tone-yoon-others-martial-law-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Nov 2025 01:30:19 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol may have begun laying the ideological groundwork for a self-coup long before his failed attempt to impose martial law last December, according to newly disclosed legal documents. Political analysts say the revelations suggest Yoon’s push for emergency rule was not a sudden response to security tensions, but part of a long-standing pattern of authoritarian inclinations dating back to his early political career and even his years as a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3333548/south-koreas-yoon-had-dictatorial-mindset-well-martial-law-decree-leaked-papers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3333548/south-koreas-yoon-had-dictatorial-mindset-well-martial-law-decree-leaked-papers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:00:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters Kim Keon-hee, the wife of South Korea’s ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol, has been indicted for bribery and other charges, a special prosecution team said on Friday, amid a widening probe into the country’s martial law crisis and scandals involving the once-powerful couple. Both Yoon and Kim have been arrested and are in jail, with Yoon already undergoing trial on charges that include insurrection following his exit in April over a botched bid to impose martial law in December. The couple... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3323575/south-koreas-former-first-lady-kim-keon-hee-indicted-bribery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3323575/south-koreas-former-first-lady-kim-keon-hee-indicted-bribery?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 03:23:13 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong The rejection of an arrest warrant for impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol’s top official by a court in South Korea has delivered a major setback to prosecutors investigating his martial law fiasco, according to observers. Former prime minister Han Duck-soo avoided pre-trial detention after the Seoul Central District Court late on Wednesday dismissed a request from Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok’s team to place him in custody. Cho’s team, which is investigating Yoon’s short-lived martial law... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3323443/south-korean-court-rejects-arrest-ex-pm-han-duck-soo-blow-martial-law-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3323443/south-korean-court-rejects-arrest-ex-pm-han-duck-soo-blow-martial-law-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:57:08 +0000 Agencies Agencies South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee was arrested late on Tuesday after a court issued a warrant following accusations of corruption that she denies, a special prosecutor leading a wide-reaching probe said. Kim is South Korea’s only former first lady to be arrested, joining her husband, ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, in jail as he faces trial following his ousting in April over a botched bid to impose martial law in December. In granting a special prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3321632/south-korean-court-approves-arrest-ex-president-yoon-suk-yeols-wife-amid-bribery-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3321632/south-korean-court-approves-arrest-ex-president-yoon-suk-yeols-wife-amid-bribery-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Aug 2025 15:40:11 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was rearrested on Thursday in a major development in efforts to hold him to account for his short-lived martial law declaration last December. The Seoul Central District Court issued a detention warrant for Yoon, citing concerns he could destroy evidence. The decision came five hours after a gruelling seven-hour hearing involving arguments from both special prosecutors and Yoon’s legal team, according to Yonhap News Agency. Yoon, 65, who had been held... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3317518/yoon-suk-yeol-going-back-jail-south-koreas-ex-president-faces-fresh-arrest-bid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3317518/yoon-suk-yeol-going-back-jail-south-koreas-ex-president-faces-fresh-arrest-bid?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jul 2025 07:27:53 +0000