The trial of Garosero Research Institute head Kim Se-eui, who was indicted and detained on charges including spreading false information about actor Kim Soo-hyun, has been moved from a single-judge panel to a three-judge panel.
According to legal sources on the 25th, the Seoul Central District Court on the 19th decided to convene a three-judge panel for the case against Kim on charges including defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. As a result, the case, which had been assigned to Criminal Division 14 single bench of the Seoul Central District Court, will be handled by Criminal Division 26, a three-judge panel.
A three-judge panel procedure allows a collegial bench to hear a case that would ordinarily fall under a single judge's jurisdiction, considering the case's importance or complexity of issues. The change of panel itself does not indicate a determination of guilt or innocence.
Since Kim was indicted and detained in June, the trial date has been changed twice. Kim's side filed a quasi-appeal and sought a stay of execution regarding investigative seizure measures and also requested a jury trial.
Prosecutors believe Kim defamed Kim Soo-hyun by spreading false information through YouTube broadcasts and a press conference from March to May last year about the timing of past dating between the late Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun and about the cause of Kim Sae-ron's death.
They also applied charges that Kim used generative artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate Kim Sae-ron's voice to support false claims and, by disclosing photos of Kim Soo-hyun, suggested there would be additional revelations of private life materials.
Kim's side completely denies the charges. Before the detention warrant hearing, Kim said, "We plan to refute everything."