Yoon Seok-Yeol’s Request to Replace Sedition Appeal Court Judges Ultimately Rejected by Supreme Court

Final Appeal for Judicial Recusal Dismissed
Sedition Trial Expected to Resume Soon

The Supreme Court has ultimately dismissed the motion filed by former President Yoon Seok-Yeol’s legal team to have the appellate court judges replaced in his sedition ringleader case.

Former President Yoon Seok-yeol speaking in court. Photo by Seoul Central District Court, Yonhap News Agency

According to the legal community on June 12, the Supreme Court’s second panel, presided over by Justice Oh Kyung-mi, rejected the appeal from Yoon’s side against the dismissal of their motion for judicial recusal. As a result, the appellate trial for former President Yoon, which had been suspended due to the recusal motion, is expected to resume soon.

On May 13, Yoon’s team filed a motion for recusal against the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 12-1 (Presiding Judges Lee Seung-cheol, Cho Jin-gu, and Kim Min-a), which is handling the appellate trial for the sedition ringleader case, citing concerns over the possibility of an unfair trial.

This division of the Seoul High Court, which specializes in sedition cases, previously handled the appellate trial of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was accused of participating in important sedition duties, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison on May 7.

Yoon’s defense argued that the judges, through their verdict in Han’s case, had effectively acknowledged Yoon’s guilt and made this public, which they claimed would prejudice the judges in Yoon’s own appellate trial.

However, on May 20, Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Yoon Sung-sik), which reviewed the recusal motion, dismissed Yoon’s request. The court stated that Yoon’s case and Han’s case were separate criminal proceedings and that there were no reasonable grounds to believe an unfair trial would occur.

Yoon’s team appealed this decision, but the Supreme Court also upheld the dismissal. Consequently, the sedition trial of Yoon and former Minister Kim—which had been on hold since the first hearing on May 14—is expected to resume soon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.