Judge Kim Miri, on leave during the trial of the Cho Kuk and Choi Kangwook case, returns to the Civil Division

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Kim Mi-ri, Chief Judge (52, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 26), who suddenly took a leave of absence while presiding over the case of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was indicted on charges including admission fraud involving his children and bribery, has returned to the Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, Chief Judge Kim was reinstated yesterday to the Civil Division 49 Single Judge Panel of the Seoul Central District Court. The Civil Division 49 Single Judge Panel had been vacant since early this month when Chief Judge Kang Young-hoon, the original presiding judge, moved to the Civil Division 2 Panel.

It is known that Chief Judge Kang moved to fill the vacancy created when Chief Judge A of the Civil Division 2 Panel was disciplined and transferred to another division due to allegations of accepting money from a businessman.

Before taking leave, Chief Judge Kim presided over the Criminal Division 21 Panel, handling many politically sensitive cases such as the case of former Minister Cho Kuk, the Blue House’s interference in the Ulsan mayoral election, and the violation of the Public Official Election Act by Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party.

In particular, he caused controversy by breaking the convention of not serving more than three years in one court, remaining at the Seoul Central District Court for a fourth year in the personnel reshuffle earlier this year.

However, after the Criminal Division 21 Panel was reorganized into an equal panel system where three chief judges share the presiding and lead roles depending on the case, Chief Judge Kim submitted a leave of absence for health reasons in April and took a three-month medical leave.

During Chief Judge Kim’s leave, the vacancy has been filled by Chief Judge Ma Seong-young of the same court, who has continued the proceedings.

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