Supreme Court Announces Regular Personnel Changes for Chief Justices and Senior Judges

Yoon Tae-sik Appointed Chief Judge of Seoul Eastern District Court... Choi Byung-jun to Lead Daejeon District Court
Kim Kwang-tae Named New Chief Judge of Daejeon High Court, Hwang Byung-ha to Head Gwangju High Court

[Photo by Supreme Court]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] On the 31st, the Supreme Court carried out personnel appointments for senior judges at the level of division chief judges and above at high courts nationwide.

On the morning of the same day, the Supreme Court announced appointments for high court presidents and division chief judges. Expanding the 'Court President Candidate Recommendation System' first introduced last year, Yoon Tae-sik, senior judge of the Seoul Eastern District Court, was appointed as president of the Seoul Eastern District Court, and Choi Byung-jun, division chief judge of the Busan District Court, was appointed as president of the Daejeon District Court. Three new high court presidents were also appointed. Kim Kwang-tae, division chief judge of the Seoul High Court, was appointed president of the Daejeon High Court; Hwang Byung-ha, division chief judge of the Seoul High Court, was appointed president of the Gwangju High Court; and Lee Seung-young, division chief judge of the Seoul High Court, was appointed president of the Patent Court.

Five court presidents completed their terms and returned to high court benches. Kim Yong-seok, president of the Seoul Administrative Court; Yoon Joon, president of the Suwon District Court; Kim Pil-gon, president of the Daejeon District Court; Lee Sang-joo, president of the Cheongju District Court; and Choi Kyu-hong, president of the Seoul Eastern District Court, were each transferred to division chief judge positions at the Seoul High Court and Suwon High Court. Additionally, in this personnel move, two court presidents and one high court division chief judge were designated as 'senior judges' and returned to first-instance courts. Choi Sang-yeol, president of the Gwangju High Court, was transferred to the Seoul Central District Court; Jo Kyung-ran, president of the Patent Court, to the Ansan Branch of the Gwangmyeong City Court; and Kim Dong-oh, division chief judge of the Seoul High Court, to the Uijeongbu District Court Namyangju Branch. They are expected to handle small claims and similar cases at the first-instance level.

The court stated, "Personnel changes occurred due to resignations of court presidents and high court division chief judges," and added, "We implemented the principle of placing the right people in the right positions after verifying work ability and ethics." Meanwhile, resignations of 28 judges, including Cho Hae-hyun, president of the Daejeon High Court; Kim Ki-jung, president of the Seoul Western District Court; Han Seung, president of the Jeonju District Court; and Lee Jeong-seok, division chief judge of the Seoul High Court, were processed through this personnel move. All of them had submitted their resignations ahead of this regular personnel appointment.

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