Judge Ji Gwi-yeon of the Seoul Northern District Court will have her trial over allegations of alcohol entertainment presided over by a fellow judge from her judicial training class.
According to legal sources on September 8, the Seoul Central District Court has assigned the case involving Judge Ji's violation of the Anti-Corruption Act to Chief Judge Park Gang-kyun of the Criminal Division 4. The date for the first hearing has not yet been determined.
Judge Park is a classmate of Judge Ji from the 31st Judicial Research and Training Institute. Being classmates does not automatically disqualify him from presiding over the case, but he may recuse himself if he believes he cannot conduct a fair trial.
The Corruption Investigation Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan, indicted Judge Ji without detention on September 4 for violating the Anti-Corruption Act.
Judge Ji is accused of receiving 1.36 million won worth of entertainment after having two lawyers cover a bill of 4.09 million won at a reservation-only bar in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, in August 2023.
The Anti-Corruption Act stipulates that public officials who receive goods or entertainment worth more than 1 million won from the same individual in a single instance are subject to punishment, regardless of the relevance to their duties or any quid pro quo.
The two lawyers reportedly split the bill at the time. The Corruption Investigation Office determined that they had shared the intent to entertain Judge Ji and divided the costs among the three attendees, estimating the value of the entertainment received by Judge Ji at 1.36 million won.
Considering that the providers of the entertainment were lawyers, the Corruption Investigation Office also investigated the possibility of quid pro quo. However, based on the fact that there were no cases assigned to Judge Ji's court by the lawyers at that time, they concluded that it was difficult to establish a connection to her official duties and did not apply bribery charges.
Judge Ji previously served as the presiding judge in the first trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection case, where she sentenced him to life imprisonment. She transferred to the Seoul Northern District Court during the regular personnel reshuffle in February of this year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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