The presiding judge of the Seoul Central District Court, overseeing the insurrection leader charges against President Yoon Suk-yeol, has been retained. The presiding judge for Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, concerning the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam FC, and Wirye cases has been replaced by Director General Lee Jin-gwan (32nd Judicial Research and Training Institute).
According to the annual duty division plan confirmed and announced by the Seoul Central District Court on the 20th, the presiding judge of the Criminal Division 25, Director General Ji Gwi-yeon (31st Judicial Research and Training Institute), will continue in the role. The Criminal Division 25 is also handling the cases of former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, National Police Agency Chief Jo Ji-ho, and former Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong-sik, who have been charged with serious offenses related to a state of emergency, including the Yoon administration's case. Two associate judges will be replaced by Kim Ui-dam and Ryu Young-sang.
Director General Ji has been serving as the presiding judge of Criminal Division 25 since February 2023, raising the possibility of a replacement during this personnel change. The Court Administration Office has decided to extend the presiding judge's term from 2 years to 3 years starting this year, but it will not be applied retroactively to those who received personnel transfers prior to this year.
The Seoul Central District Court has decided to increase the number of criminal division panels dedicated to election and corruption cases as well as economic cases by one each. It appears that they are expanding the court system to handle other criminal cases as the likelihood increases that Criminal Division 25 will essentially handle the state of emergency cases.
The Criminal Division 33, which is hearing the Daejang-dong allegations involving Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, has seen a complete change in its panel of judges. The presiding judge will be Director General Lee Jin-gwan. Previously, Director General Kim Dong-hyun, who served as the presiding judge for two years, had noted in a hearing on the 18th that he had 'applied for a personnel transfer.' The associate judges have also been replaced by Yoon Yi-hwan and Lee Jae-jun.
The judges responsible for determining whether to issue arrest warrants at the Seoul Central District Court will be Director Generals Jung Jae-wook (30th Judicial Research and Training Institute), Lee Jung-jae (32nd Judicial Research and Training Institute), Park Jung-ho (32nd Judicial Research and Training Institute), and Nam Se-jin (33rd Judicial Research and Training Institute).