People Power Party Requests Change of Injunction Case Judge... Court Effectively Denies (Comprehensive)

With "Current court judges judge not only procedural illegality but also political areas"
Court: "The 52nd Civil Division only handles cases that the 51st Civil Division cannot intervene in"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is attending the hearing for the injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the People Power Party's party rules at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, on the 14th. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Byungdon Yoo] The court has effectively notified that it will not change the presiding judge for the provisional injunction case filed by former leader Lee Jun-seok against the emergency response committee led by Jeong Jin-seok and others, despite the People Power Party's request.

The People Power Party stated on the day, "We have sent an official letter to the Chief Judge of the Seoul Southern District Court requesting the reassignment of the case related to the 4th and 5th provisional injunction cases." The party argued, "Although there are two civil divisions, the 51st and 52nd, under the judge assignment system of the Seoul Southern District Court, assigning former leader Lee Jun-seok's provisional injunction cases only to the 51st Civil Division raises sufficient doubts about fairness," adding, "One of the debtors in the 5th provisional injunction case, emergency response committee member Jeon Ju-hye, is a classmate of the presiding judge of the 51st Civil Division at Seoul National University Law School," emphasizing the need for reassignment.

They continued, "The current court (51st Civil Division) went beyond 'procedural illegality judgment' and ventured into the political domain by judging the 'applicability of an emergency situation and the necessity of establishing the emergency response committee,' departing from established legal principles and precedents," and stated, "It is difficult to properly guarantee trust in fairness if the trial proceeds again in this court."

However, the Southern District Court stated regarding the 52nd Civil Division, "According to Supreme Court Ethics Committee Recommendation No. 8, the 52nd Civil Division is a preliminary court division that handles cases which the presiding judge of the 51st Civil Division cannot be involved in," and added, "Cases other than those with such reasons will not be assigned to the 52nd Civil Division."

Recommendation No. 8 of the Supreme Court Ethics Committee, enacted in 2013, advises that "if a judge has relatives within the second degree of kinship working as lawyers at a law firm, it is desirable that the judge does not handle cases entrusted to that law firm."

Judge Hwang of the 51st Civil Division ruled in favor of the 1st and 2nd provisional injunction cases related to the Joo Ho-young emergency committee, and later rejected the party's objection to the suspension of former emergency committee chairman Joo's duties. The hearings for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th provisional injunction applications filed by former leader Lee are scheduled to be held together on the 28th.

Former leader Lee filed a provisional injunction (4th) to suspend the duties of emergency response committee chairman Jeong Jin-seok at the Seoul Southern District Court, as well as a provisional injunction (5th) to suspend the duties of six appointed emergency response committee members (Kim Byung-min, Kim Sang-hoon, Kim Jong-hyuk, Kim Haeng, Jeon Ju-hye, and Jeong Jeom-sik).

Regarding this, former leader Lee posted on his Facebook, "If they had spent the time trying to catch Lee Jun-seok on controlling inflation and exchange rates, wouldn't the situation be better than now?"

He also criticized the request for replacement due to the fact that former emergency committee member Jeon Ju-hye is a classmate of the current presiding judge at Seoul National University, saying, "This is nonsense from the start, but does it make sense to file a recusal request just because it might be advantageous to themselves?" and "Among legal professionals in Korea, how many are Seoul National University graduates? If this is accepted, how many laughable and sad things will happen in Korean courts in the future?"

He added, "When people who are not fools act irrationally, I will interpret it as a 'delay tactic,'" and said, "I don't know if it's a coincidence, but the last-minute replacement of emergency committee member from Joo Ki-hwan to Jeon Ju-hye might have been for this purpose."

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