![Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (left) and former Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/05/news-p.v1.20260805.c204acabf36a4ae7846f701b3e639ca3_P1.jpg)
The Supreme Court has referred the appeals of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min — each charged with playing a key role in insurrection — to its Grand Bench for a joint hearing.
The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that the appeals in both cases would be heard by the Grand Bench following requests from the individual divisions handling each case. The court said it considered the high level of public interest, the need for a judicial assessment for historical reasons, and the fact that the defendants in the two cases are co-conspirators who should be tried together.
Han's case had been handled by the court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Oh Gyeong-mi, while Lee's case was before the Third Division, presided over by Justice Lee Heung-gu. Wednesday's decision moves both cases to the Grand Bench, which comprises all Supreme Court justices except the court administrator.
Han, who served as prime minister at the time of the Dec. 3, 2024, emergency martial law declaration, was indicted on charges of failing to check former President Yoon Suk Yeol's arbitrary abuse of power and instead participating in the unconstitutional and unlawful imposition of martial law. He also faces charges of signing and ordering the destruction of a falsified martial law proclamation document prepared by former presidential aide Kang Eui-gu. Additional charges include perjury — specifically, testifying at Yoon's Constitutional Court impeachment trial that he had no recollection of receiving the martial law proclamation document.
In January, a first-instance court described the Dec. 3 emergency martial law as "insurrection from above" and sentenced Han to 23 years in prison — eight years more than the 15-year term sought by the insurrection special prosecutor's team led by Special Prosecutor Jo Eun-seok. The trial court found Han not only failed to stop the martial law declaration but also bore responsibility for creating the appearance of a legitimate Cabinet meeting. An appeals court later acquitted him of charges related to his failure to act — a so-called "omission" count — and reduced his sentence to 15 years.
Lee was indicted on charges including relaying Yoon's orders to blockade the National Assembly and other key institutions and cut power and water to media outlets, then directing the head of the National Fire Agency to carry out those measures. He also faces perjury charges for testifying at Yoon's impeachment trial that he had neither issued such orders nor received them from Yoon. A first-instance court sentenced him to seven years in prison; an appeals court increased the sentence to nine years.
Both Han and Lee, along with the special prosecutor's team that indicted them, appealed their respective second-instance rulings, bringing the cases before the Supreme Court.
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