'Im Seong-geun, Former Chief Judge Dismissed in Impeachment, Registers as Lawyer'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It was confirmed on the 14th that Im Seong-geun, former Chief Judge of the Busan High Court, who was involved in the 'judicial scandal' during the tenure of former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae and became the first judge subject to impeachment trial, recently completed his lawyer registration.

According to the legal community, the Korean Bar Association held a lawyer registration review committee on the 10th and approved former Chief Judge Im's lawyer registration.

Former Chief Judge Im was indicted in March 2019 for allegedly interfering in the trial of the Seoul bureau chief of the Japanese Sankei Shimbun, who was prosecuted for writing a column about former President Park Geun-hye's 'scandal rumors' while serving as the Senior Criminal Judge at the Seoul Central District Court from 2014 to 2015.

The first and second trials acquitted him, stating, "The Senior Judge does not have the authority to intervene in the decisions of the frontline trial court, so the exercise of the presiding judge's rights cannot be obstructed," and the Supreme Court is currently reviewing the case following the prosecution's appeal.

Separately, the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against former Chief Judge Im on February 4 last year with 179 votes in favor, 102 against, 3 abstentions, and 4 invalid votes. At that time, former Chief Judge Im, who was still in office, retired at the end of February upon expiration of his term.

The Constitutional Court, which reviewed the impeachment trial, dismissed the case with a 5 (dismissal) to 3 (acceptance) vote, stating, "A dismissal decision cannot be pronounced against a respondent who has retired due to term expiration."

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