Judicial Farming Trial Second Instance Reignites Dispute...Prosecution and Im Jongheon Both Appeal

Prosecution: "Significant Legal Interpretation Differences... Must Correct Due to Different Judgments in Related Cases"

Legal battles over the guilt or innocence of former Deputy Director of the Court Administration Office Im Jong-heon, one of the suspects in the judicial corruption scandal, will be reopened in the appellate court.

Im Jong-heon, former Deputy Director of the Judicial Administration Office, is heading to the courtroom to attend the first trial sentencing hearing held on the afternoon of the 5th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 8th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced that it had filed an appeal with the first trial court for former Deputy Director Im. The prosecution stated, "There is a significant difference in opinion with the first trial court regarding the scope of judicial administrative authority, judicial independence, and the legal principles of abuse of authority," adding, "There are also discrepancies compared to previous court rulings on related cases."

They further said, "The criteria for determining some of the guilty or not guilty conclusions are neither consistent nor clear, so it is important to unify the factual findings and legal interpretations and correct these issues."

Since there are several discrepancies between the first trial court, which acquitted former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae and former Supreme Court Justices Park Byung-dae and Ko Young-han, who were indicted in the same case, and the court handling former Deputy Director Im's trial, the prosecution intends to seek a review in a higher court.

The prosecution also argued, "While acknowledging responsibility for the abuse of judicial administrative authority, the sentencing judgment is inappropriate as it fails to consider the defendant's attempts to prolong the trial through motions to disqualify judges and requests for trial renewals, and instead reduces the sentence by citing the social punishment the defendant has endured due to the prolonged trial."

Former Deputy Director Im's defense attorneys also submitted an appeal to the court on the same day.

On the 5th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 36-1 (Presiding Judges Kim Hyun-soon, Jo Seung-woo, and Bang Yoon-seop) found some of former Deputy Director Im's charges guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison with a three-year probation.

He was found guilty of charges including effectively drafting litigation documents for the Ministry of Employment and Labor in the 2015 lawsuit regarding the unlawful union status of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, involvement in the reception of the case by the Supreme Court panel after passing through the Blue House and the Ministry of Labor, and instructing an administrative officer to review the contents of a fraudulent conveyance cancellation lawsuit filed against former Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Hong Il-pyo.