The Supreme Court has chosen to send the appeals of Han Duck-soo, former Prime Minister, and Lee Sang-min, former Minister of the Interior and Safety, who are charged with involvement in an *insurrection* linked to the December 3 emergency martial law, to the entire bench for collective consideration. This implies that the court will assess whether the emergency martial law qualifies as an *insurrection* through a comprehensive review by all justices.
The Supreme Court stated on the 5th, “Given the significant public interest, the importance of historical judicial assessment, and the fact that the two individuals are co-conspirators needing collective consideration, the cases will be examined by the entire bench in response to requests from the respective divisions (Division 2 for Han and Division 3 for Lee).”
Initially, Han’s case was assigned to Supreme Court Division 2, while Lee’s was assigned to Division 3. Both defendants submitted opinions requesting that their cases be referred to the full bench. However, Cho Eun-suk’s special prosecutor team opposed this, citing the Special Counsel Act, which requires a decision within three months, and stated, “This is not something for the full bench.” The full bench is generally called when divisions are unable to reach an agreement or when changes in precedent are necessary. A Supreme Court source explained, “The decision means the two cases will be jointly reviewed by the full bench, although rulings on the appeals may proceed separately.”
Han is accused of giving the impression of procedural legitimacy to the martial law by convening a Cabinet meeting and discussing actions to cut off electricity and water supply to certain media outlets with Lee following the declaration. He was initially given a 23-year sentence, which was later reduced to 15 years. Lee is charged with receiving a document from former President Yoon Suk-yeol that instructed the termination of utilities for media organizations and passing this directive on to former National Fire Agency head Heo Seok-gon. He received a seven-year sentence in the first trial and nine years in the second.
Earlier, the Supreme Court also sent the case of former first lady Kim Keon-hee, who was found not guilty in the second trial related to the ‘Myung Tae-kyun poll survey free receipt’ incident, to the full court a day before the decision (July 23). With guilty rulings issued against former President Yoon and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon concerning the ‘Myung Tae-kyun poll survey,’ there were discussions that the Supreme Court intended to create a consistent standard through the full bench.
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