The special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk sought a five-year prison term for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who faces additional charges of failing to appoint Constitutional Court justices selected by the National Assembly. The special counsel argued that a heavy sentence was unavoidable because Han arbitrarily exercised his authority to preserve vested interests and damaged public trust.
The request came on the 28th at the final hearing in Han's trial on charges including abuse of authority and dereliction of duty, held before the 33rd criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Jin-kwan. The special counsel asked the court to impose a five-year term. It sought four years each for former Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk and former Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Kim Joo-hyun, who were indicted on the same charges. Former Presidential Secretary for Public Service Discipline Lee Won-mo faced a three-year request.
Han was indicted over his failure, while serving as acting president after then-President Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached and suspended from duty, to appoint Ma Eun-hyuk, Chung Kye-sun and Cho Han-chang as Constitutional Court justices after they were selected by the National Assembly. He also faces charges of nominating Seoul High Court Chief Judge Ham Sang-hoon and former Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu as Constitutional Court justices after Yoon's removal from office without properly conducting a separate personnel vetting process.
The special counsel said the defendants applied opposite principles to when they should exercise authority and when they should refrain from doing so. By not appointing the justices selected by the National Assembly, they obstructed the normal composition of the Constitutional Court and caused delays in impeachment proceedings, the special counsel said. Yet after Yoon's removal, they preemptively exercised the power to nominate two justices that belonged to the next president, seeking to preempt the public's future choice.
"To block the impeachment of former President Yoon, they refused to appoint justices without legal grounds, citing the absence of a bipartisan agreement, and paralyzed a constitutional function," the special counsel said. "After the removal, they did the exact opposite, trying to shape the composition of the Constitutional Court to fit their own intentions."
The special counsel also criticized the defendants for maintaining only the appearance of vetting, without substantive review of the nominees. "It is inaccurate even to call it sloppy vetting," the special counsel said. "It was not sloppy — there was effectively no vetting at all." The special counsel also argued that delaying the appointments of Justice Ma Eun-hyuk and Supreme Court Justice Ma Yong-joo by 104 days and three months, respectively, was an attempt to rationalize their own partisan logic.
The special counsel cited a phrase written in prison by independence activist Ahn Jung-geun: "When you see profit, think of righteousness; when you see danger, give your life." The special counsel said, "Ahn Jung-geun said that when you see profit, think of righteousness, and when you see danger, give your life. We are not demanding heroic sacrifice from the defendants. Not using one's authority to protect one's own position at a moment of crisis is the minimum duty of a public official."
The special counsel said, "Former Prime Minister Han's 55 years of public service is not a badge of honor but a reason to make the weight of his responsibility even heavier." It added, "Once that authority was used to damage the constitutional order, he must bear correspondingly heavy responsibility." The special counsel also said, "Only by properly recording the defendants' responsibility through this ruling can we set a standard of responsibility and duty for the many public officials who will face crises in the future."
