Seoul Central District Court Chief Judge: "It Would Have Been Better If Yoon's Detention Cancellation Had Been Contested Through Immediate Appeal"

Oh Minseok, Chief Judge of the Seoul Central District Court, stated regarding the decision to cancel the detention of former President Yoon Seokyeol, "I also think it would have been better if the prosecution had contested the decision through an immediate appeal as stipulated by law."

Yonhap News

On October 20, during the National Assembly audit of courts in the Seoul metropolitan area held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Judge Oh made this remark in response to Assemblywoman Park Eunjung of the Rebuilding Korea Party, who pointed out that "calculating the detention period in hours instead of days at the time of former President Yoon's detention cancellation was a violation of the law."

Previously, in March, the Criminal Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ji Guyoun) accepted former President Yoon's request for cancellation of detention, ruling that when the detention period was calculated in hours rather than days, he had been indicted after the period had expired. The prosecution chose not to file an immediate appeal.

When Assemblywoman Seo Youngkyo of the Democratic Party asked, "Has there ever been a case where the detention period was calculated in hours instead of days?" Judge Oh replied, "No."

When Assemblyman Kim Yongmin of the Democratic Party asked, "Since the cancellation of former President Yoon's detention, has there been any case where the cancellation was decided by calculating the period in hours rather than days?" Judge Oh responded, "Since former President Yoon's detention cancellation, a total of 33 detention cancellation cases have been filed, and 31 have been processed. To determine whether the period was calculated in days or hours, such a judgment must be stated in the decision document, but among the 31 cases, there is no case where such a judgment is recorded."

He further explained, "In cases where cancellation is granted, the decision usually simply states that 'the grounds for detention have disappeared,' and in cases where it is denied, it only states that 'it does not fall under cases where the grounds for detention do not exist or have disappeared.' Therefore, it cannot be confirmed from the decision documents."

Meanwhile, Judge Oh stated that there were no special measures to be taken regarding the allegations of entertainment at an adult entertainment establishment involving Presiding Judge Ji Guyoun.