South Korea special prosecutor seeks 15-year jail term for ex-PM Han on martial law charges
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SEOUL - South Korea's special prosecutor on Wednesday sought a 15-year jail term for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on allegations he abetted ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched bid to impose martial law last December.
Han is expected to be the first former cabinet member to be handed a ruling by a lower court on criminal charges related to martial law and his case may set the tone for Yoon's current trial and other rulings that are expected to follow.
The ruling on Han's case will be made on January 21, the court said.
"We believe severe punishment of the defendant (Han) is inevitable to prevent such an unfortunate history from being repeated," one of the prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Han has been charged with aiding and abetting Yoon's role as a "ringleader of an insurrection" that declared an illegal emergency martial law. According to the charge, Han was obliged to check the president's arbitrary abuse of authority as prime minister, the "second-in-command in state affairs."
'I FELL SHORT'
Han has denied the main charges he faces, saying on Wednesday that while he regretted not being able to stop Yoon declaring martial law, he "never agreed to it or tried to help."
"The moment the president said he would declare emergency martial law that night, I was shocked beyond words," Han said, likening that moment to the ground crumbling off a cliff.
"The more I try to recover the confused memories of that night, the more I feel hopeless that I fell short. I must bear that pain until the day I die."
One of his lawyers said Han regretted not trying to stop Yoon more strongly or even physically, but that did not mean Han had abetted Yoon. Another of his lawyers asked that Han's age and his wife's poor health be taken into account if the court did find him guilty despite his innocence.
Han, 76, is an experienced technocrat who served in senior posts under five presidents. He became acting president after Yoon was impeached, before he too was impeached over accusations that he had aided Yoon in the martial law declaration.
The Constitutional Court overturned Han's impeachment, restoring his powers to serve as leader before he resigned from the post to run in a snap election in June. He ended his bid for the presidency following rifts among conservatives.
Yoon, who is undergoing a separate trial on charges that include acting as a "ringleader of an insurrection", faces the death penalty or life imprisonment if found guilty.
South Korea has not carried out a death penalty since 1997. REUTERS
