Court Changes Presiding Judge for Ji Gwiyun's "Alcohol Entertainment Allegation" Case

Criminal Division 4 Judge, Classmate from Judicial Training Institute,
Case Reassigned to Criminal Division 10
"Concerns Over Impartiality"

The presiding judge for the first trial of Ji Gwiyun, Chief Judge of the Seoul Northern District Court, who is set to be tried on allegations of "entertainment with alcohol," has been changed.

On September 8, the Seoul Central District Court announced that the case involving Chief Judge Ji for alleged violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act (commonly known as the anti-graft law) has been reassigned to Chief Judge Lee Jaewook of Criminal Division 10.

Initially, the case was assigned to Chief Judge Park Kangkyn of Criminal Division 4. However, Judge Park requested a reassignment, stating, “As the presiding judge and the defendant are from the same graduating class at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, there could be concerns about the impartiality of the trial.” The court determined that there was sufficient cause for reassignment, and, following a random computerized allocation, the case was reassigned the same day to Criminal Division 10.

Noh Jongmyeon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is revealing photos related to the allegations of a "room salon entertainment" involving Jigiyeon, Chief Judge of the Seoul Central District Court, on May 19 last year at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Previously, on September 4, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials indicted Chief Judge Ji without detention for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. The investigation found that in around August 2023, Ji, then a lawyer, had two attorneys pay a bar tab worth 4.09 million won at a reservation-only pub in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, thereby receiving entertainment valued at approximately 1.36 million won per occasion. Under the anti-graft law, public officials who receive money or entertainment exceeding 1 million won at a time from the same person are subject to criminal penalties.

Allegations against Chief Judge Ji surfaced in May last year when members of the Democratic Party of Korea claimed that Ji had received entertainment involving alcohol from parties related to his official duties at a bar in Gangnam, Seoul. The Corruption Investigation Office registered a complaint by a civic group and began its investigation the same month. Nearly one year and four months later, on September 4, the case was brought to trial.

Meanwhile, Chief Judge Ji previously headed the panel in the first trial for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was charged as the ringleader in an insurrection case. Earlier this year, Judge Ji sentenced former President Yoon to life imprisonment, and was subsequently transferred to the Seoul Northern District Court in the regular personnel reshuffle in February.

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