August 28, 2025
SEOUL – A Seoul court on Wednesday dismissed a request to issue a detention warrant for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo over evidence-tampering concerns linked to charges of failing to prevent and possibly aiding the imposition of martial law.
The Seoul Central District Court rejected the special counsel’s request, which was made last Sunday as part of its investigation into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his alleged insurrection and treason.
Cho’s team sought the warrant on six key charges, including abetting the imposition of martial law, preparation of false public documents, uttering of falsified public documents, destruction of public documents, perjury and violating the Act on the Management of Presidential Archives.
Han attended a court hearing Wednesday afternoon, where he reportedly denied his charges except for those related to perjury. The hearing, which began at 1:30 p.m., came to an end after about 3 1/2 hours. The court denied the request for an arrest warrant 8 1/2 hours later, after reviewing arguments presented by the special counsel team and Han’s legal representative.
The special counsel submitted a 362-page report to the court earlier to emphasize the necessity of Han’s detention, but the court found it was difficult to conclude that there is a risk of destroying evidence beyond the exercise of right to defense.
“Considering the suspect’s career, age, residence, family ties, attendance at investigative procedures and attitude during the questioning, it is also difficult to deem that there is a risk of flight,” the court said.
The court also determined that there is room for dispute regarding the legal assessment of key facts and series of actions taken by the suspect.
Han reportedly refuted most of the claims made by the prosecutors before he was taken to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, to await the court’s decision.
The court’s decision made Han the first Cabinet member in the Yoon administration to avoid detention by the investigative agency.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min have been in custody after courts issued warrants for their arrest in June and July, respectively. Former President Yoon is currently under arrest at the Seoul Detention Center as well.
