South Korean court rejects arrest of ex-PM Han Duck-soo in blow to martial law probe

The former prime minister, a top aide to Yoon Suk-yeol, is under investigation for his role in last year’s botched martial law declaration

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South Korea’s former prime minister Han Duck-soo appears at the Seoul High Prosecutors Office for questioning on Friday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Published: 12:57pm, 28 Aug 2025Updated: 4:06pm, 28 Aug 2025

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 decree on December 3, sought Han’s arrest last week. The veteran administrator faces charges of assisting Yoon in summoning cabinet ministers to lend procedural legitimacy to the decree.

He is also accused of perjury for testifying before the Constitutional Court and National Assembly that he had been unaware of the plan in advance. Investigators say he lied, citing surveillance footage of him reading the written decree before Yoon’s proclamation.

Han has admitted the contradiction but insisted he called in ministers only to “dissuade” Yoon from going ahead, not to legitimise the move.

Protesters stage a rally in March calling on Han Duck-soo to step down as South Korea’s acting president. Photo: AP

Prosecutors further suspect Han drafted and later discarded a revised version of the decree to fix legal flaws – an act amounting to the destruction of evidence.

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