A South Korean court has rejected former President Yoon Suk-yeol's motion to recuse the appellate panel hearing his insurrection ringleader case.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 (presided over by Chief Judge Yoon Sung-sik) on Thursday rejected the recusal motion filed by Yoon's legal team against Criminal Division 12 (high court judges Lee Seung-cheol, Cho Jin-gu, and Kim Min-a), the high court's dedicated insurrection panel.
Criminal Division 12 is hearing the appeal in Yoon's insurrection ringleader case. The first hearing was held on the 14th of this month, but oral arguments are currently separated after Yoon's side filed the recusal motion. Yoon's legal team argued that "the panel revealed a prejudgment of guilt by determining that the martial law declaration constituted insurrection in its appellate ruling on former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's charges of engaging in critical insurrection duties."
In response, the court stated, "The Han case and the insurrection ringleader case are separate criminal cases," adding, "The related case does not constitute a prior trial of the main case, and judgments are made individually based on the evidence submitted, the degree of proof, and the defendant's response."
The court also rejected recusal motions filed against Criminal Division 12 by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, former Defense Intelligence Command chief Noh Sang-won, and Kim Yong-gun. "The trial panel's ruling on defendant Kim Yong-hyun's motion for a constitutional review request was a legitimate exercise of primary adjudicatory authority under the Constitution and the law," the court explained, "and this does not constitute grounds for recusal or disqualification."
