Mr. Han Duck Soo has not only been involved in charges related to the declaration of martial law by former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, but also faced accusations of forging official documents and making false statements.
At the first hearing in which the press was allowed to record, Mr. Han Duck Soo said that Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law was unacceptable.
In nearly 40 years as a civil servant, I have always believed that the country must develop based on a market economy and international prestige. From that perspective, I find this situation very unacceptable, Han Duck Soo said at a courthouse in Seoul.
Mr. Han also admitted that he had confessed that he did not receive or view any documents from the Presidential Palace on December 3, 2024, when Mr. Yoon declared martial law but denied other allegations.
The special prosecutor's team investigating the martial law decree said Han was the highest-ranking official who could block the president's "unconstitutional, illegal martial law decree".
Meanwhile, Mr. Yoon is also being tried, facing charges of rebellion but also deniing any wrongdoing.
Mr. Han - who was appointed by Mr. Yoon - is an experienced holdingsman who has served under 5 presidents, and became acting president after Mr. Yoon was impeached.
However, Han himself was also impeached shortly after, having been accused of assisting Yoon in declaring martial law late last year.
At that time, Mr. Han also denied the accusation but admitted to being partly responsible for the crisis for not preventing Mr. Yoon's unexpected decision.
The Constitutional Court later rejected Mr. Han's impeachment, restoring power to allow him to continue holding leadership positions, before he resigned to run for early election in June.
However, Mr. Han later decided to withdraw from the race due to deep cracks within the conservative faction.
Lee Jae Myung, a center-left Democratic Party member, won the June 3 election to become South Korean President after Yoon was ousted over martial law.
