The appeal trial concerning former President Yoon Suk Yeol's rebellion charges has been halted as the Supreme Court has begun reviewing a recusal request filed by Yoon's legal team. If the Supreme Court dismisses the recusal, the suspended appeal trial for the rebellion case is expected to resume.
According to legal sources on June 1, the Supreme Court has assigned the recusal request case to its Second Division. This division is composed of Justices Oh Kyung-mi, Kwon Young-jun, Eom Sang-pil, and Park Young-jae, with Justice Oh serving as the presiding judge.
Previously, Yoon filed a recusal request against the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 12-1, which is handling his rebellion charges appeal. A recusal request is a procedure where a defendant asks for the exclusion of a trial panel due to concerns about its impartiality.
Yoon's legal team argued that the panel had used expressions that seemed to acknowledge Yoon's guilt in a case involving former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, claiming this made it difficult for him to receive a fair trial.
However, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1, led by Judge Yoon Seong-sik, rejected Yoon's recusal request. The division stated that the related case and the main case are separate criminal matters, and that the main case would be judged based on the evidence presented by the prosecution and the defense's responses, thus finding no grounds for concerns about an unfair trial.
Dissatisfied with this decision, Yoon filed a recusal appeal to the Supreme Court. This appeal is a procedure to seek the Supreme Court's judgment on a decision made by the High Court.
The recusal requests filed by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Director of the Defense Intelligence Command Noh Sang-won against the same appeal panel are also being handled by the Supreme Court's Second Division, with Justice Oh as the presiding judge.
Both Kim and Noh have also filed recusal requests against the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1, which reviewed their initial requests. This is referred to as a 'recusal of the recusal' case. The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 deemed this to be clearly aimed at delaying the proceedings and dismissed it quickly, with the appeal against this dismissal also assigned to the Supreme Court's Second Division.
Under criminal procedure law, the filing of a recusal request generally halts the progress of the trial. As a result, the appeal trials for Yoon, Kim, Noh, and former Major General Kim Yong-gun regarding the rebellion case are currently on hold pending the Supreme Court's decision.
However, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 12-1 is continuing proceedings for four co-defendants, including former National Police Agency Commissioner Jo Ji-ho, former Seoul Police Agency Commissioner Kim Bong-sik, former National Assembly security chief Mok Hyun-tae, and former National Police Agency National Investigation Service planning and coordination officer Yoon Seung-young, by separating their cases.
If the Supreme Court dismisses the recusal requests from Yoon and others, the suspended appeal trial for the main rebellion case will resume. Conversely, if the Supreme Court finds merit in the recusal requests, it may necessitate a change in the trial panel, potentially delaying the second trial further.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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