The case of Judge Ji Gwi-yeon, who has been indicted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) over allegations of receiving illicit entertainment, has been reassigned to a new court.
On September 8, the Seoul Central District Court announced that Judge Ji's case, involving violations of the Anti-Corruption Act, has been transferred to Criminal Division 10, presided over by Judge Lee Jae-wook.
Previously, the case was assigned to Criminal Division 4, led by Judge Park Kang-kyun. However, concerns about the fairness of the trial arose after it was revealed that Judge Park and Judge Ji are classmates from the 31st Judicial Research and Training Institute.
In response to these concerns, Judge Park requested the court to reassign the case, citing potential misunderstandings regarding the trial's impartiality. The court acknowledged the reasons for the reassignment, and the case was transferred within a day. The Seoul Central District Court explained that the reassignment was determined through a random computerized allocation process.
Judge Ji previously presided over the first trial of the case against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was accused of instigating a state of emergency on December 3. During that trial, Judge Ji made headlines by calculating the detention period of former President Yoon in hours rather than days, leading to his release from custody and drawing sharp criticism from the then-opposition Democratic Party.
Following this, the Democratic Party alleged that Judge Ji received entertainment at a room salon in Gangnam and released related photographs. Civic groups subsequently reported Judge Ji to the ACRC for violations of the Anti-Corruption Act.
According to the ACRC, Judge Ji is accused of having his drink expenses, amounting to 4.09 million won, covered by two lawyers, acquaintances of his, at a reservation-only bar in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, in August 2023. The Anti-Corruption Act stipulates that public officials who receive gifts or entertainment exceeding 1 million won from the same individual in a single instance are subject to punishment, regardless of the relevance to their duties or any expectation of reciprocity.
As a result, the ACRC indicted Judge Ji for violations of the Anti-Corruption Act on September 4. However, considering that the individuals present were lawyers, the ACRC also investigated the possibility of reciprocity but decided not to apply bribery charges, as there were no cases assigned to Judge Ji's court by these lawyers at that time.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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