On the 22nd, the Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The Supreme Court's Judicial Administration Office recommended a three-week recess starting from this day for courts nationwide due to the spread of COVID-19. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] With the regular personnel changes within the courts, all the panels handling major cases such as the 'admission fraud' involving former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and his spouse, the 'Daejang-dong development preferential treatment corruption allegations,' and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's 'unfair merger allegations' have been replaced.
According to the legal community on the 17th, the Seoul Central District Court distributed the office assignment chart, including these changes, to its judges around 6 p.m. the previous day. One additional equal-level criminal trial panel was newly established in the criminal division.
The Criminal Joint Division 21, which is handling the case of former Minister Cho Kuk and his spouse, saw its presiding judge Kim Sang-yeon (50, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 29) go on leave, and the position was taken over by Judge Kim Jeong-gon (48, Class 31). Judge Kim passed the bar exam in 1999, started practicing law in 2002, and began working in the courts as a judge at Cheongju District Court in 2007.
The Criminal Joint Division 22, which is handling the cases involving Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and Kim Man-bae, major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, related to the Daejang-dong case, changed its presiding judge from Yang Cheol-han (54, Class 27) to Lee Jun-cheol (50, Class 29).
At the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Joint Division 25, which is hearing the accounting fraud and unfair merger allegations against Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Park Jeong-gil (56, Class 29), transferred from the Seoul Eastern District Court, has been newly assigned, replacing former presiding judge Kwon Seong-su.
The Criminal Joint Division 25, composed of three presiding judges, divides the roles of presiding judge and chief judge by case. Newly transferred Judge Park Jeong-gil will serve as the non-chief judge for Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's case. The presiding judge conducting the trial and the chief judge drafting the judgment will remain unchanged.
Judge Park previously worked as a warrant judge at the Seoul Eastern District Court and in March 2019 dismissed the prosecution's arrest warrant request for former Minister Kim Eun-kyung, who was under investigation in the 'Ministry of Environment blacklist' case. The Criminal Joint Division 25 is also handling the case against Seoul Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, who was indicted for special recruitment of dismissed teachers.
The Criminal Joint Division 23, which was hearing the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations, has also changed. The new presiding judge is Judge Jo Byung-gu (48, Class 28). Judge Jo served as the presiding judge of the Criminal Joint Division 11 at the Seoul Western District Court and acquitted former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung in August 2018. After the appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed a prison sentence of 3 years and 6 months for former Governor Ahn.
Judge Kim Ok-gon (46, Class 30) has been appointed as the presiding judge of Criminal Joint Division 27, which is handling the cases involving former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui's travel ban, former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-cheol and two others, as well as the case of Seoul High Prosecutor General Lee Seong-yoon.
Judges Yoon Jong-seop and the associate judges of Criminal Joint Division 36, who were requested to be disqualified by former Deputy Director of the Court Administration Office Im Jong-heon due to biased trial proceedings in the 'judicial farming' case, will leave the Seoul Central District Court with this personnel change. Instead, Judges Kim Hyun-soon (50, Class 29), Jo Seung-woo (48, Class 30), and Bang Yun-seop (47, Class 30) have been newly assigned. Unlike the previous composition of one presiding judge and two associate judges, the panel will now be formed as an equal-level trial panel.
For the warrant judges responsible for deciding on the detention of suspects during the investigation stage, Judges Kim Jeong-min (49, Class 29), Kim Sang-woo (46, Class 30), and Kim Se-yong (46, Class 31) have been assigned.
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