Fate of South Korea’s Yoon ‘almost a foregone conclusion’ after Han’s shock prison term
The ex-prime minister was jailed for 23 years for his role in Yoon’s martial law decree, deemed an ‘insurrection from above’ by the court
On Wednesday, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced the 76-year-old Han to 23 years in prison after finding him guilty of helping to orchestrate the December 2024 decree, perjury and related offences.
It was the first court ruling to formally classify the decree as an act of insurrection, rejecting Yoon’s long-standing claim that it was intended to alert the public to the “tyranny” of the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
Han’s sentence exceeded prosecutors’ request by eight years – a rare outcome in South Korea, where courts more commonly hand down lighter sentences than those sought by the prosecution.