Han Duck-soo Appears as Witness in Yoon Suk Yeol's Perjury Trial for First Face-to-Face Court Meeting in 8 Months

Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo appeared as a witness in the perjury trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is indicted on charges of committing perjury during Han's insurrection trial, but refused to testify.

Han appeared as a witness at the second-instance trial for Yoon's perjury charges, held by the 1st Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Yoon Sung-sik) today (July 28).

This marks their first face-to-face meeting in court in about eight months, since November of last year when former President Yoon appeared as a witness in Han's trial.

During the session, the special counsel team led by Independent Counsel Cho Eun-seok questioned Han regarding the situation right before the emergency martial law declaration on December 3, 2024, when former President Yoon summoned state councilors to the presidential office, seeking to prove Yoon's perjury charges.

Former President Yoon faces charges of perjury for stating during Han's trial last November in response to the court's question, "Did you think from the beginning that you needed to call the required number of people for a cabinet meeting?" by answering, "Yes. Since the martial law declaration is announced to the entire world, I naturally knew that a cabinet meeting was necessary."

The special counsel team believes that former President Yoon initially had no intention of holding a cabinet meeting and only called six state councilors, but after hearing Han's suggestion, additionally summoned six others, including former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho (Note: Choo Kyung-ho referred to as Choi Sang-mok in original text), to meet the quorum for a cabinet meeting.

Consequently, the team concluded that the claim—that Yoon intended to summon those necessary for the cabinet meeting even before Han's suggestion—was a false statement contrary to memory.

On this day, former Prime Minister Han exercised his right to refuse testimony for most of the special counsel's questions, stating, "I am currently awaiting the Supreme Court ruling on my own criminal case, and testifying here is highly likely to be linked to my case and lead to adverse outcomes."

This is based on Article 148 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which stipulates that a person may refuse to testify regarding matters that might expose them or their relatives to criminal conviction.

Han was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the second instance on charges of engaging in key duties of an insurrection, such as proposing the holding of a cabinet meeting to create the appearance that the emergency martial law declaration was made after deliberation by state councilors, and his case is currently pending at the Supreme Court.

After the witness examination concluded without substantial progress, former President Yoon repeatedly denied the charges, telling the court, "If we weren't going to hold a cabinet meeting, why would I have asked the Prime Minister and those people to come to the presidential office? I simply cannot understand this."

The court decided to hold the sentencing hearing next month on August 19 to hear final arguments from both sides and set the date for the second-instance ruling.

Previously, the first-instance court acquitted Yoon of the perjury charges, stating it appeared Yoon planned to additionally summon state councilors regardless of Han's suggestion.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.