Supreme Court to Establish Dedicated Division for Insurrection Cases

The Supreme Court of Korea will establish a dedicated judicial division to exclusively handle cases of national importance, including insurrection and treason charges under criminal law.

The move represents the judiciary's own response to constitutional concerns raised over legislation pursued by the Democratic Party of Korea to create a dedicated insurrection court.

The National Court Administration under the Supreme Court decided to enact "Regulations on the Establishment of Dedicated Divisions and Trial Procedures for Cases of National Importance" at a Supreme Court justices' administrative meeting held Wednesday.

Under the regulations, the dedicated division will handle cases involving insurrection and treason under criminal law, as well as mutiny under military criminal law, that draw significant public attention and require expedited trials.

The regulations are expected to take effect in mid-January next year and will likely apply starting from the appellate trial of insurrection and treason cases involving former President Yoon Suk Yeol and others.

The dedicated division will be formed through random assignment, and all existing cases previously assigned to that division will be redistributed to other divisions, allowing the dedicated division to focus solely on cases of national importance.

"This is intended to address concerns from the public and the National Assembly regarding the swift and fair handling of trials for cases of national importance," a National Court Administration official said. "We plan to provide top priority support to ensure there are no disruptions to swift and fair trial proceedings in appellate cases at the Seoul High Court involving matters of national importance."

Regarding the Supreme Court's announcement, the Democratic Party stated that "the Supreme Court's decision clearly confirms that the dedicated insurrection court establishment bill pursued by our party is not unconstitutional," indicating it would continue pushing for the legislation.

If the Democratic Party's dedicated insurrection court bill passes, the Supreme Court's regulations would effectively become moot.