When Will the Trials of Yang Seung-tae and Cho Kuk Take Place... Further Delays After Personnel and Task Allocation

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The trial for former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae’s case involving allegations of abuse of judicial administrative power, which was scheduled to continue on the 3rd, was suddenly postponed. The continuation dates for the cases involving former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk’s family and the Blue House’s alleged interference in the Ulsan mayoral election have yet to be set. These are already long-standing cases, and there are concerns that they might once again extend beyond the year if this continues.

The first trial continuation scheduled for the morning of the 3rd under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 35-1 (Presiding Judge Jongmin Lee) was the first hearing set after the reorganization of the panel. The case involving former Chief Justice Yang, which has been held about twice a week since March 2019, was suspended after all three judges of the original panel were transferred in the regular judicial personnel reshuffle on the 3rd of last month. However, since the panel postponed all trial dates this month, including the 3rd, the case has been at a standstill for about two months. A lawyer in Seocho-dong analyzed, “Since the newly assigned judges need to review the case records before proceeding with the trial, it seems that some time will be required before continuation.”

The situation is even more complicated for the cases involving former Minister Cho’s family and the Ulsan mayoral election interference allegations, which are being heard by the same court’s Criminal Division 21. The trial for the Cho family case was suspended after the preparatory hearing for the family allegations in December last year. The Ulsan mayoral election interference case has not had a trial since the preparatory hearing in October last year. These cases were filed with the court in January of last year.

Until recently, Judge Miri Kim had been the sole presiding judge for these cases, but last month, through a redistribution of duties, the panel was changed to a collegial panel with three presiding judges?Sangyeon Kim and Yongbeom Jang newly appointed. In a collegial panel, three presiding judges alternate as chief judge and lead judge depending on the case, but it has not yet been decided who will serve as chief judge and lead judge for the Cho family case and the Ulsan mayoral election interference case. Another lawyer stated, “The trial procedures can only be renewed and hearings conducted once the chief judge and lead judge are appointed. Since this is at the discretion of the panel, the continuation schedule is unknown.”