Seoul: Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team expressed disappointment Thursday that a court rejected its request for a warrant to arrest former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief imposition of martial law. The Seoul Central District Court rejected the warrant Wednesday, saying there is little concern Han will flee or destroy evidence and "room for dispute regarding legal assessments of key facts and the suspect's series of deeds."
According to Yonhap News Agency, the special counsel team had sought Han's arrest on charges of abetting the ringleader of an insurrection, falsifying and destroying official documents, perjury, and other offenses. "We respect the court's decision regarding the special counsel's request for an arrest warrant," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing. "From the perspective that such a historical tragedy should never recur through the strictness of the law, it is disappointing," she added.
Park referred to past examples when the government imposed martial law in 1972 and 1980, saying those close to power achieved their own gains by not stopping or even cooperating with their leaders. "The entire nation will agree that in order not to repeat the history of the past, senior public officials in a position to stop emergency martial law should be held strictly accountable," she said.
The special counsel team will decide on its future course regarding Han, including whether to indict him without physical detention, after reviewing the court's reasons for rejecting the warrant, she said. The team has accused Han of abetting Yoon's imposition of martial law in December by proposing a Cabinet meeting before the decree's declaration. It also suspects he drafted and later destroyed a revised proclamation intended to enhance the legitimacy of the decree.