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Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on August 27 for a pretrial detention hearing over charges of aiding former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration and committing perjury. / Source: Yonhap News

A Seoul court has rejected an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who faces charges of aiding insurrection and perjury in connection with former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s December 3 martial law declaration.

Judge Jung Jae-wook of the Seoul Central District Court said on August 27 that “there is room for legal dispute regarding key facts and the defendant’s actions,” dismissing the prosecution’s request. The court added that the evidence presented so far, Han’s status and conduct, and his overall circumstances did not indicate a serious risk of destroying evidence or fleeing.

Han, who appeared earlier in the day for a warrant review hearing, was accused by the special counsel team investigating Yoon’s martial law of neglecting his constitutional duties as prime minister by allowing the declaration to proceed. Prosecutors argued that as head of government, Han was obligated to check and balance the president, not merely follow orders.

The special counsel alleged Han later helped draft and then scrap a revised martial law proclamation to cover legal defects in the original December 3 declaration. He is also accused of perjury before the Constitutional Court and the National Assembly, having initially denied receiving the proclamation from Yoon, only to acknowledge in a second interrogation that he had, in fact, received it on the day of the declaration.

During the hearing, prosecutors submitted over 360 pages of arguments and a 160-page PowerPoint presentation. The warrant request had been based on multiple charges, including aiding an insurrection leader, perjury, and falsifying official documents.

The dismissal deals a setback to the special counsel’s efforts to secure custody of key officials, raising questions over the pace of investigations into other cabinet members suspected of complicity or negligence in the martial law case.