Yoon Seok-yeol Prosecutor General Case, Seoul Administrative Court Division 12 Chief Judge Hong Soon-wook Presides

Chief Judge Hong Sun-wook. Photo by Legal News

[Asia Economy reporters Seokjin Choi and Juni Park] The panel assigned to hear the cancellation lawsuit and suspension of execution case filed by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who is contesting the '2-month suspension' disciplinary action, was decided on the 18th.

The Seoul Administrative Court announced on the same day that the cancellation lawsuit and suspension of execution case regarding the disciplinary action, for which Prosecutor General Yoon filed a complaint the previous day, were assigned to the 12th Division (Chief Judge Hong Soon-wook).

The day before, Prosecutor General Yoon submitted electronically to the Seoul Administrative Court a cancellation lawsuit requesting the annulment of the '2-month suspension' disciplinary action and an application for suspension of execution to halt the effect of the suspension.

In the case of the cancellation lawsuit, it may take several years until the judgment is finalized, and it is highly likely that the first trial ruling will take several months, making it difficult to reach a conclusion within the 2-month suspension period.

Ultimately, the court's decision on the suspension of execution, which is based not on the substantive judgment of whether Minister Chu's disciplinary request against Prosecutor General Yoon was lawful, but on the 'irreparable damage suffered by Prosecutor General Yoon due to the suspension' and the 'urgent necessity to prevent it,' is important.

Meanwhile, Chief Judge Hong, who will preside over this case, is a native of Seoul and graduated from Jangchung High School and Korea University Law School before passing the 38th Judicial Examination in 1996.

After completing the 28th Judicial Research and Training Institute, he served as a naval legal officer and then worked as a judge at ▲ Chuncheon District Court ▲ Suwon District Court ▲ Yeoju Branch of Suwon District Court ▲ Seoul Southern District Court ▲ Seoul Central District Court ▲ Seoul High Court.

Promoted to chief judge in 2014, he served as chief judge at ▲ Ulsan District Court ▲ Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Court and has been working at the Seoul Administrative Court since February 2018.

Chief Judge Hong was also selected as an outstanding judge by the Seoul Bar Association in 2013.

In October, Chief Judge Hong ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by standing members of the '4·16 Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Commission' against the government, citing unpaid wages and obstruction of investigation.

Also in the same month, he dismissed the suspension of execution application regarding the prohibition notice for the Hangul Day rally filed by the Liberty Democracy Union against the chief of the Seoul Namdaemun Police Station.

Considering that the court's decision on Prosecutor General Yoon's previous suspension of execution application came six days later, it is expected that the court's decision on this disciplinary action will be announced by the 23rd or 24th at the latest.

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