The Seoul Central District Court will designate two of the current warrant judges as temporary warrant judges in charge of insurrection and treason cases. The criteria for forming the dedicated panel for insurrection cases will be set at a full judges' meeting after next month's regular judicial personnel announcements.
On the 19th, the Seoul Central District Court held a full judges' meeting, discussed the criteria for forming the dedicated panel for insurrection cases and the warrant judges, and stated accordingly. The meeting was held behind closed doors for 2 hours and 40 minutes, excluding breaks.
As a result of the meeting, the two warrant judges for insurrection and treason will be selected next month in the regular allocation of judicial duties from among judges who meet both requirements of "14 to 25 years of legal experience" and "at least 10 years of judicial experience."
Before the allocation of duties, two of the four current warrant judges (Presiding Judges Jeong Jae-uk, Lee Jung-jae, Park Jeong-ho, and Nam Se-jin) will first be designated as temporary warrant judges. The temporary warrant judges will be approved by online vote at the full judges' meeting after the Seoul Central District Court's committee on allocation of duties prepares the allocation plan.
Regarding the dedicated panel, a decision will be made at the full judges' meeting to be held after the announcement of regular judicial personnel in Feb. 2026. A full judges' meeting for further discussion will be held at 2 p.m. on the 9th next month.
The judges' meeting that day is a follow-up measure under the Special Act on Criminal Procedures for Insurrection, Treason, and Rebellion Crimes, which took effect on the 6th. The Central District Court held a full judges' meeting on the 12th but, failing to reach a conclusion, reconvened the meeting that day.
The law stipulates that the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court each establish two dedicated panels for insurrection, treason, and rebellion or related cases that are recognized as nationally significant. According to the standards set at the full judges' meeting, the Central District Court's committee on allocation of duties will prepare an allocation plan, and judges for the dedicated panels will be appointed after a resolution by the full judges' meeting. In addition, the Central District Court must appoint at least two warrant judges dedicated to insurrection cases, and whistleblowers related to insurrection cases will be protected under the standards of the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act.
In principle, the dedicated panels will be established from the first instance. However, a transitional provision states that cases already on trial when the law took effect will continue to be heard by the existing panels. If the second comprehensive special counsel being pushed by the Democratic Party is launched and additional indictments are filed, the dedicated panel at the Central District Court is expected to take them. Cases that the special counsel investigating the insurrection case could not complete and referred to the police may, after indictment, also fall under the scope depending on the matter.
Cases such as the former President Yoon's charge as the ringleader of insurrection, for which a first-instance verdict is imminent, will fall under the dedicated panel starting from the appellate trial. The Seoul High Court, which will handle the appeals, held a full judges' meeting on the 15th and decided to establish two dedicated panels for insurrection, while reviewing whether to add more depending on future developments.
The Seoul High Court plans to appoint judges to the dedicated panels and form the insurrection panels immediately after the regular judicial personnel announcement scheduled for the 30th. The dedicated panels will begin operating from Feb. 23 along with judicial transfers.