Seoul [South Korea], August 29 (ANI): South Korean prosecutors have indicted former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo for supporting ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration last year, and former First Lady Kim Keon-hee on bribery and related charges, Al Jazeera reported.
Seventy-six-year-old Han was indicted on multiple counts, including perjury and falsifying state documents, in addition to his alleged role in aiding Yoon’s martial law plan, Al Jazeera reported, citing Yonhap news agency. Media reports noted that Han had been under scrutiny by a team of special prosecutors for several weeks before the charges were announced.
Meanwhile, former First Lady Kim Keon-hee was separately indicted over allegations linked to a stock manipulation scheme, as well as claims she accepted gifts from the controversial Unification Church and other questionable dealings. Her lawyers denied the allegations, dismissing some of the reporting on gifts as unfounded speculation, Al Jazeera reported.
At a televised briefing, assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said Han, as the highest-ranking official in office at the time, had the authority to block Yoon’s declaration but instead played an “active” role in advancing it. Prosecutors alleged that he attempted to push Yoon’s decree through a Cabinet Council meeting in order to provide it with “procedural legitimacy.”
Han has maintained that he informed Yoon of his opposition to the martial law plan.
Both Kim and Yoon have been arrested and remain in custody. The former president is already standing trial on charges including insurrection over his attempt to impose military rule, Al Jazeera reported.
Kim, meanwhile, has long been embroiled in controversies spanning more than 15 years, scandals that clouded Yoon’s presidency and damaged the image of his conservative People Power Party (PPP). Yoon was impeached in April.
During the post-martial law turmoil, Han twice assumed the role of acting president between December and May before resigning to seek the PPP’s presidential nomination. He ultimately failed to secure the party’s ticket.
The June 3 presidential election was won by the Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung, who drew attention after livestreaming himself climbing over the walls of the National Assembly to cast his vote against Yoon’s martial law declaration. (ANI)
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