Aftermath of 'Kim Beom-su's Arrest'?... Former Prosecutors Yeo Hwan-seop and Han Seung Resign as Lawyers

Yeo Hwan-seop, former head of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (24th Judicial Research and Training Institute class), and Han Seung, former chief judge of Jeonju District Court (17th class), who served as defense attorneys for Kim Beom-su, chairman of the Kakao Management Innovation Committee, have both resigned.

Attorney Hyeonseop Yeo (Former Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute) / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the legal community on the 26th, former Judicial Research and Training Institute head Yeo and former judge Han each submitted their resignation letters to the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 15 (Presiding Judge Yang Hwan-seung) on the same day.

Yeo, who gained recognition as a 'special investigation prosecutor' after serving as head of the 1st and 2nd divisions of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department and as chief of the Special 1st Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, had previously assisted Chairman Kim during the prosecution investigation. Meanwhile, Han, who served as a senior judicial research judge at the Supreme Court, personally conducted the defense during the warrant hearing held on the 22nd of last month. Despite the 'ironclad defense' by these two high-ranking former officials turned attorneys, Chairman Kim was detained.

Among the defense team for Chairman Kim, a large number of attorneys from major law firms such as Kim & Chang and Sejong were appointed. The simultaneous resignation of former Judicial Research and Training Institute head Yeo and former judge Han, whose involvement alone had become a topic of discussion in the legal community, has led some to interpret this as a repercussion of failing to prevent the detention. Regarding this, a representative from the relevant law firm stated that the reason for submitting the resignation was "at the request of Chairman Kim's side."

The upcoming trial defense for Chairman Kim is expected to be led mainly by the Sejong law firm defense team, including attorney Lee Jeong-hwan, a former deputy chief prosecutor of the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and attorney Kim Min-hyung, who previously served as head of the Fair Trade Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

The first trial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on the 11th of next month. Chairman Kim, who is currently incarcerated, is also expected to appear in court. There is also a possibility that the trial will be consolidated with that of Bae Jae-hyun, former head of Kakao Investment, who was indicted alongside Chairman Kim on charges of market manipulation related to SM Entertainment.

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