[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Despite the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), important trials involving Professor Jeong Gyeongshim of Dongyang University, Governor Kim Kyungsoo of Gyeongnam Province, and former Deputy Chief Im Jongheon of the Court Administration Office continue.
On the 24th, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Lim Jeongyeop, Kwon Seongsu, Kim Seonhee) announced that the continuation hearings for Professor Jeong Gyeongshim scheduled for the 27th of this month and September 3rd will proceed as planned.
Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court recommended that from the 24th to September 4th, each trial division operate their schedules as if on a recess. The gist was to operate schedules flexibly except for urgent cases such as detention cases, injunctions, and suspension of execution.
However, the court decided not to change the schedule for Professor Jeong’s case, citing that key witnesses such as Kim Mikyung, Secretary for Balanced Personnel at the Blue House, on the 27th, and former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk on the 3rd of next month, are scheduled to be examined.
The 25th Criminal Division also did not postpone the continuation hearing scheduled for the 28th for former Minister of Environment Kim Eun-kyung’s case regarding the 'Ministry of Environment blacklist suspicion,' due to the scheduled examination of important witnesses.
The 36th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Yoon Jongseop), which is handling the trial of former Deputy Chief Im Jongheon of the Court Administration Office, also stated, "It is not easy to change the witness examination schedule, and considering various circumstances such as the limited number of people attending court, we intend to proceed without recess."
The 2nd Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Ham Sanghoon, Kim Minki, Ha Tae-han) is also reported to have decided not to change the continuation hearing schedule for Governor Kim Kyungsoo of Gyeongnam Province’s appeal trial regarding the 'illegal public opinion manipulation suspicion' scheduled for September 3rd.
However, trials for cases without scheduled important witness examinations or procedures are being postponed one after another. The 21st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Miri) changed the continuation hearing for former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk scheduled for the 28th of this month to September 11th.
Meanwhile, courts nationwide have already undergone temporary recess periods during the early spread of COVID-19 in February and March. Following that, they also had a regular recess period of two weeks in July and August, making this the third recess period within about six months.
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