Appointment of Kim Dae-woong as Seoul High Court Chief Judge and Oh Min-seok as Seoul Central District Court Chief Judge

Kim Dae-woong (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 19), Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, has been appointed as the new Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, and Oh Min-seok (Class 26), Senior Judicial Researcher of the Supreme Court, has been appointed as the Chief Judge of the Seoul Central District Court.

Supreme Court. Yonhap News

On the 31st, the Supreme Court announced personnel appointments and transfers for court chiefs, senior presiding judges, high court presiding judges, and judges. The appointments for court chiefs and senior presiding judges will take effect on the 10th, and those for high court judges on the 24th.

Chief Judge Kim graduated from Kyunghee High School and Seoul National University Law School. He was commissioned as a judge at Suwon District Court in 1993 and has served as a judge at the Seoul High Court, a researcher at the Constitutional Court, presiding judge at Gwangju District Court, Seoul Central District Court, Gwangju High Court, Seoul High Court, and senior presiding judge at Incheon District Court. He is regarded as a well-rounded and orthodox judge proficient in civil, criminal, and administrative trials as a presiding judge at various levels of courts.

In 2023, while serving as the Administrative Presiding Judge of the Seoul High Court, he ruled that drivers for the ride-hailing service "Tada" should be considered workers under a subordinate relationship. In 2024, as the Presiding Judge of the Civil Division of the Seoul High Court, he dismissed an appeal in a damages lawsuit filed by victims of the Brothers Home case against the state, ordering the government to pay 4.535 billion won in compensation to the victims.

Chief Judge Oh graduated from Seoul High School and Seoul National University Law School. After being commissioned as a judge at Seoul District Court in 1997, he served as a judge at Daejeon District Court, Seoul Central District Court, and Seoul High Court. He served as a Civil Policy Officer at the Court Administration Office and was a presiding judge at Changwon District Court, Suwon District Court, and Seoul Central District Court. He also served as a Judicial Researcher, Senior Judicial Researcher, and Chief Judicial Researcher at the Supreme Court. He is especially recognized for his significant contributions as Chief Judicial Researcher in efficiently handling a backlog of appeals and ensuring the smooth delivery of plenary session rulings.

In this personnel reshuffle, many presiding judges of the Seoul High Court were appointed as high court chiefs. Kim Si-cheol (Class 19) will serve as the head of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, Lee Seung-ryeon (Class 20) as the head of the Judicial Policy Research Institute, Lee Won-beom (Class 20) as Chief Judge of the Daejeon High Court, Seol Beom-sik (Class 20) as Chief Judge of the Gwangju High Court, Bae Jun-hyun (Class 19) as Chief Judge of the Suwon High Court, and Han Gyu-hyun (Class 20) as Chief Judge of the Patent Court, all former presiding judges of the Seoul High Court.

Jin Seong-cheol (Class 19), Chief Judge of the Patent Court, will move to become Chief Judge of the Daegu High Court, and Park Jong-hoon (Class 19), Chief Judge of the Daejeon High Court, will move to become Chief Judge of the Busan High Court.

Including Kim Tae-eop (Class 25), who was appointed earlier as Chief Judge of the Seoul Western District Court, a total of 18 district court chiefs have been newly appointed. Seoul High Court presiding judges Lee Won-hyung (Class 20), Jeong Jun-young (Class 20), and Kim Jae-ho (Class 21) were appointed as Chief Judge of the Seoul Family Court, Seoul Rehabilitation Court, and Chuncheon District Court, respectively. Kang Dong-myeong (Class 21), presiding judge of the Daegu High Court, was appointed Chief Judge of the Daegu District Court, and Kim Moon-gwan (Class 23), senior presiding judge of the Busan High Court, was appointed Chief Judge of the Busan District Court.

Among female judges, four were appointed as court chiefs. Yoon Kyung-ah (Class 26), senior presiding judge of Chuncheon District Court, will serve as Chief Judge of the Seoul Southern District Court; Cho Mi-yeon (Class 27), presiding judge of Chuncheon District Court, as Chief Judge of the Cheongju District Court; Lim Hae-ji (Class 28), senior civil presiding judge of Seoul Central District Court, as Chief Judge of the Daegu Family Court; and Kim Seung-jung (Class 27), presiding judge of Seoul Central District Court, as Chief Judge of the Gwangju Family Court.