S. Korea's special counsel team seeks warrant to arrest former PM

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's special counsel team investigating former President Yoon Suk-yeol's short-lived martial law imposition sought a warrant to arrest former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Sunday.

The special counsel team said in a news briefing that it filed the arrest warrant for Han on Sunday afternoon on charges including aiding the ringleader of insurrection, perjury, fabricating official documents, and damaging public files.

The special counsel team asserted that Han, as the then prime minister, had the responsibility to check the president's arbitrary exercise of power, but failed to prevent the illegal martial law and instead provided assistance.

The special counsel team also accused Han of attempting to cover up legal loopholes in the martial law documents by formulating and subsequently abolishing related documents after the martial law imposition.

The special counsel team charged Han with suspicion of perjury based on the fact that he previously stated at the Constitutional Court of Korea and the National Assembly that he knew nothing about the martial law documents.

In July, the special counsel team conducted a search and seizure at Han's residence and obtained relevant evidence materials, according to former media outlets. ■