The attorney for former Minister of the Ministry of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who was detained after being sentenced to 15 days of confinement for causing a disturbance in court, filed a petition with the Supreme Court to suspend the execution of the confinement.
According to legal sources on the 5th, attorney Lee Ha-sang, representing the former Minister, submitted a petition to the Supreme Court on the 3rd to suspend the execution of the confinement. Lee's side filed a reappeal against the confinement order, and since the Supreme Court is reviewing the reappeal case, they are known to have sought a stay of execution as well.
Confinement is a measure by which a person who violates court order is detained for a certain period in a prison or detention center by order of the presiding judge.
Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan) sentenced attorney Lee Ha-sang to 15 days of confinement on Nov. 19 last year for failing to comply with an order to leave the courtroom and causing a disturbance. Lee appealed, but the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 20 (Chief Presiding Judge Hong Dong-gi) dismissed the appeal, saying it was difficult to view the lower court's measure as a departure from or abuse of discretion. Lee then filed a reappeal with the Supreme Court.
However, although the lower court ordered execution of the confinement on the day of sentencing, the detention center refused to execute it on the grounds that the personal information had not been specified, and the actual execution took place on the 3rd, about two months after the sentence. Lee is scheduled to be held at the Seoul Detention Center until the 16th.