Yoon Suk Yeol's Appeal in 'Obstruction of Arrest' Case Assigned to Seoul High Court's Dedicated Insurrection Panel

Criminal Division 1 to Hear the Case... Appeal Trial Begins in Earnest Following Five-Year Prison Sentence in First Instance

Yonhap News Agency

The appeal trial for former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the case of obstructing his arrest has been assigned to Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul High Court, which is one of the panels specializing in insurrection cases.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Seoul High Court on this day assigned the case against former President Yoon, who has been indicted on charges including obstruction of special official duties and abuse of authority by interfering with the exercise of rights, to Criminal Division 1 (Presiding High Court Judge Yoon Sung-sik and High Court Judges Min Sung-cheol and Lee Dong-hyun). Criminal Division 1 and Criminal Division 12 of the Seoul High Court are dedicated panels that handle insurrection, treason, rebellion, or related cases.

Previously, the court of first instance found former President Yoon guilty of charges including obstructing an arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and convening only some cabinet members to give the appearance of a legitimate Cabinet meeting at the time of the declaration of emergency martial law, and sentenced him to five years in prison.

Criminal Division 1, which will hear former President Yoon's appeal, is composed of Presiding High Court Judge Yoon Sung-sik (58, 24th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute) and High Court Judges Min Sung-cheol (53, 29th class) and Lee Dong-hyun (45, 36th class).

Presiding High Court Judge Yoon was appointed as a judge at the Eastern Branch of the Seoul District Court and went on to serve in key judicial posts, including judge at the Seoul District Court, professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, spokesperson of the Supreme Court's Court Administration Office, and presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court. He was then promoted to presiding high court judge and has since served as senior professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute and director-general of planning and coordination at the Court Administration Office.

High Court Judge Min was appointed as a judge at the Seoul District Court and has served as a judge at the Seoul Central District Court, a research judge at the Supreme Court, and a presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court. High Court Judge Lee has served at the Seoul Central District Court, as a professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and as a presiding judge at the Cheonan Branch.

The case of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was sentenced in the first trial to 23 years in prison on charges including engaging in key duties related to insurrection in connection with the December 3 emergency martial law incident, has been assigned to Criminal Division 12-1 (High Court Judges Lee Seung-cheol, Cho Jin-goo, and Kim Min-a).

These cases had initially been assigned to Criminal Division 20 of the Seoul High Court (Senior Presiding Judge Hong Dong-gi), but were reassigned as the specialized insurrection panels began operating as of this day.

Earlier, on the 5th, the Seoul High Court convened a full judges' meeting and, excluding three of the 16 criminal divisions that had grounds for disqualification, randomly selected two divisions to serve as the dedicated panels. The specialized insurrection panels were created pursuant to the "Special Act on Criminal Procedures for Crimes of Insurrection, Treason, and Rebellion, etc." (the Act on the Establishment of Dedicated Insurrection Panels), which was passed by the National Assembly under the initiative of the Democratic Party of Korea and came into effect last month.