South Korea's ex-PM Han handed 15-year sentence on appeal for aiding insurrection

SEOUL - The sentence for South Korea's former prime minister Han Duck-soo was commuted on Thursday to 15 years on appeal for aiding the insurrection of former president Yoon Suk-yeol, live footage showed.

The Seoul High Court overturned the lower court's ruling, shortening Han's prison term from 23 years to 15 years.

On Jan 21, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Han to 23 years in prison for aiding and abetting the insurrection of the impeached former president.

On April 7, the team of Cho Eun-suk, an independent counsel who led investigations into Yoon's insurrection and other charges, announced to seek a 23-year prison term against Han on appeal.

Following the second-instance ruling, Han's legal team reportedly said that it will appeal to the Supreme Court.

The court said that Han abandoned his grave responsibility as the second-in-command and joined the insurrection, stressing that his guilt was grave.

Han was charged with engaging in critical duties of the insurrection relevant to Yoon's martial law declaration. Yoon was sentenced to life in prison in February for ringleading the insurrection.

The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of Dec 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.

The former premier was also accused of signing and then discarding a backdated martial law proclamation as well as giving false testimony during Yoon's impeachment trial at the constitutional court.

Han was indicted without detention in August 2025, and was taken into custody in the courtroom following the lower court's verdict in January.