[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The extradition hearing to decide whether to send Son Jung-woo (24, in custody), the operator of the world's largest child sexual exploitation material site "Welcome to Video," to the United States will be held on the 19th.
The Criminal Division 20 of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Kang Young-soo) will conduct the first hearing of the extradition request case against Son at 10 a.m. on that day.
Son was scheduled to be released on the 27th of last month after serving 1 year and 6 months in prison on charges including distribution of child sexual exploitation material, but he was re-arrested for extradition review after the Ministry of Justice accepted the U.S. request for extradition.
In August 2018, Son was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury on six counts and nine charges, including distribution of child pornography. The U.S. Department of Justice has been demanding compulsory extradition under the extradition treaty ahead of Son's release.
The extradition hearing for Son held on this day is a single-instance procedure with no appeal process. The hearing will be conducted publicly, and according to related procedures, the decision on whether to extradite Son is expected within about two months.
If the court grants the extradition and the Minister of Justice approves, U.S. enforcement authorities will enter South Korea within a month to take Son away.
Recently, Son's father filed a complaint with the prosecution, accusing his son of opening cryptocurrency accounts under his personal information to trade and conceal criminal proceeds. This is interpreted as an attempt to prevent Son from being sent to the U.S.
Previously, Son's father submitted a petition to the court requesting that his son be punished in Korea, arguing that extradition to the U.S. would be harsh.
Meanwhile, the Seoul High Court expects many parties involved in the lawsuit and spectators to gather for the hearing and plans to operate two separate relay courtrooms outside the main courtroom. The relay courtrooms will allow the trial to be viewed via video.
The Seoul High Court also operated relay courtrooms during the appeal trial of Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo's case on computer obstruction of business and other charges in March. At that time, Chief Judge Kim Chang-bo of the Seoul High Court personally visited the relay courtrooms to check the situation.
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