Former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, who was indicted on charges of taking part in the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration, has been asked to serve 25 years in prison on appeal, the same term handed down at his first trial. The special counsel argued the original sentence should stand because Park sought to turn the state's power to punish into an instrument of insurrection even though he knew the martial law declaration was unlawful.
The special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk asked the court on the 29th to "dismiss the defendant's appeal and impose the same 25-year prison term as the lower court," at the final hearing on Park's charges including playing a key role in an insurrection. The hearing was held before the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1, presided over by Senior Judge Yoon Sung-sik.
The special counsel said that although Park was the justice minister overseeing legal administration at the time of the martial law declaration, he actively joined the insurrection and handed over the state's power to punish as a tool for it. "The justice minister administers state power by the yardstick of the law, and that must apply equally to those in power," the special counsel said. "On the night of the insurrection, the defendant sought to wield that power against the National Assembly, which the insurrection forces had labeled a den of criminals, and against resistance groups such as so-called pro-North Korea forces."
"The defendant actively joined a self-coup, an insurrection staged by an elected president, and turned back the clock of history," the special counsel added. "We hope that no senior public official like the defendant ever emerges again."
Park was indicted on charges that he failed to stop the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declared by former President Yoon Suk-yeol even though he knew it was illegal, and that he mobilized the Justice Ministry's prosecution bureau, correction bureau and Korea Immigration Service to support the joint investigation headquarters under the martial law command. He also faces charges of instructing the head of the immigration bureau to have a travel-ban team on standby and the head of the correction bureau to secure detention space.
The first-trial court in June found Park guilty of playing a key role in an insurrection. It ruled that Park was aware the purpose of the martial law declaration was to neutralize the National Assembly, and that the measures taken at the ministry level amounted to carrying out instructions relayed from Yoon. The court sentenced Park to 25 years in prison, longer than the 20 years the special counsel had sought.
