Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s fate now hangs on a judge’s decision after a tense three-and-a-half-hour pretrial detention warrant review Wednesday, over allegations of aiding insurrection and perjury, a ruling that could heavily influence the direction of South Korea’s high-stakes martial law probe.

Seoul Central District Court Judge Chung Jae-wook, who oversees warrant reviews, began questioning Han at 1:30 p.m. and concluded the session at around 4:55 p.m. 

Han, who was escorted to Seoul Detention Center afterward, declined to answer reporters’ questions about whether he justified the declaration of martial law or convened a cabinet meeting to give it procedural legitimacy.

During the hearing, special prosecutors submitted a 54-page warrant request, a 362-page opinion brief, 160 slides of visual presentation materials and CCTV footage to argue for Han’s detention.

Han denied most allegations except those related to perjury, while prosecutors said he had not only failed to block former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s unlawful martial law declaration but also sought to lend it legitimacy by convening a cabinet meeting.

The judge, who previously ordered the detention of former interior minister Lee Sang-min and former first lady Kim Keon-hee, is expected to rule on Han’s arrest on Wednesday night, a decision that could shape the trajectory of the ongoing martial law investigation.