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Supreme Court moves to discipline judge Ji Gwi-yeon over alcohol allegations
Версия 2: More outlets confirmed the Supreme Court's stated plan to open disciplinary proceedings against judge Ji Gwi-yeon, and a second ruling-party lawmaker's criticism of the four rejected warrants was added.
Коротко
The Supreme Court said a disciplinary process will go ahead for Seoul Northern District Court senior judge Ji Gwi-yeon, who was indicted over having two lawyers pay for drinks worth about 4.09 million won at a reservation-only bar in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. Ethics auditor Choi Jin-su told a National Assembly audit that both alleged alcohol entertainment episodes are included in the disciplinary scope. Ruling-party lawmakers at the same hearing accused the courts of shielding their own over four rejected warrants, while Court Administration Office chief Noh Kyung-pil said the office cannot intervene in individual cases.
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The Supreme Court's ethics auditor, Choi Jin-su, said on Oct 6 that a disciplinary committee procedure is expected to go ahead for Seoul Northern District Court senior judge Ji Gwi-yeon over alcohol entertainment allegations. Speaking at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit of the Supreme Court, Choi said both instances of alleged alcohol entertainment involving Ji are included in the disciplinary scope, after Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min pressed for discipline. Newsis, Chosun Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Seoul Economic Daily, Maeil Business and CBS NoCut News reported the same statement. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
Ji was indicted over having two lawyers pay about 4.09 million won for drinks at a reservation-only bar in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, around August 2023, according to Yonhap, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Seoul Economic Daily, Maeil Business and CBS NoCut News. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials also confirmed that in September 2024 five people including Ji spent about 4.16 million won at the same bar, but did not indict that part, saying the per-person amount was under 1 million won and job relevance was hard to establish. [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
At the same hearing, ruling-party lawmakers criticised the court for rejecting four warrants the CIO sought during its investigation of Ji, describing it as protection of the judiciary's own. CBS NoCut News quoted Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Seong-yun as saying, “the court rejected warrants four times; if warrants had been issued, there would likely have been far more crimes uncovered,” and asking why crimes related to judges were rejected this way. Court Administration Office chief Noh Kyung-pil responded by asking whether lawmakers wanted the office to intervene in trials, and said the office cannot involve itself in individual cases and that the Chief Justice likewise cannot intervene. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that the Court Administration Office assigned Ji as a judicial research judge as of Oct 2, excluding him from trial work. The other documents in this set do not mention the reassignment. [ 4 ]
Yonhap also reported that Noh rejected criticism of a court administration manual on supporting litigation related to the judicial distortion crime, denied that the Chief Justice deliberately inflated the number of attendees at official meals, and said the practice of judges issuing warrants remotely from home is under review and judged inappropriate. [ 2 ]
Почему это важно
The hearing put the judiciary's handling of an investigation into one of its own judges under scrutiny during a National Assembly audit, and the disciplinary committee's next steps will be watched as a test of how the courts deal with misconduct allegations against judges. The documents give no indication of when the committee will meet or what sanction Ji could face.
Ключевые факты
- Supreme Court ethics auditor Choi Jin-su said at the Oct 6 Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit of the Supreme Court that a disciplinary committee procedure is expected to proceed for Seoul Northern District Court senior judge Ji Gwi-yeon. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Choi said both instances of alleged alcohol entertainment involving Ji are included in the disciplinary scope. [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Ji was indicted over having two lawyers pay about 4.09 million won for drinks at a reservation-only bar in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, around August 2023. [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials confirmed that in September 2024 five people including Ji spent about 4.16 million won at the same bar, but did not indict that part, citing a per-person amount under 1 million won and difficulty establishing job relevance. [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Ruling Democratic Party lawmakers criticised the court for rejecting four warrants sought by the CIO during its investigation of Ji, calling it protection of the judiciary's own. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Court Administration Office chief Noh Kyung-pil said the office cannot involve itself in individual cases and that the Chief Justice likewise cannot intervene. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- The Court Administration Office assigned Ji as a judicial research judge as of Oct 2, removing him from trial duties, according to Kyunghyang Shinmun. [ 4 ]
Подтверждено несколькими источниками
- The Supreme Court said a disciplinary procedure will be carried out for judge Ji Gwi-yeon over alcohol entertainment allegations. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Both instances of alleged alcohol entertainment involving Ji are included in the disciplinary scope, according to ethics auditor Choi Jin-su. [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Ji was indicted over having two lawyers pay about 4.09 million won for drinks at a bar in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, around August 2023. [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Ruling-party lawmakers criticised the court over four rejected warrants requested by the CIO during its investigation of Ji, and Court Administration Office chief Noh Kyung-pil said the office cannot intervene in individual cases. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
Пока неясно
- When the disciplinary committee will meet and what sanction Ji could face. The documents say only that proceedings are expected; no schedule, charges or possible penalty are given.
- Whether the Court Administration Office's Oct 2 assignment of Ji as a judicial research judge is connected to the disciplinary case. Reported by only one outlet; the other documents do not mention the reassignment.
- The status of the two alcohol entertainment episodes before the disciplinary committee. The documents say both are included in the disciplinary scope but do not say whether either has been formally confirmed as a violation.
- The full article text of several documents in this set. Those documents' bodies carried unrelated stories, so only their headlines or summaries addressed the discipline case; details from them could not be used.
Что пишут местные СМИ
Хронология, местное время
- Newsis reports that the Supreme Court ethics auditor said the disciplinary procedure for judge Ji Gwi-yeon will proceed. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap reports that the disciplinary committee process is expected, citing ethics auditor Choi Jin-su at the National Assembly audit, and details the indictment and the rejected warrants. [ 2 ]
- Chosun Ilbo reports the expected disciplinary procedure and Noh Kyung-pil's response that the Court Administration Office cannot intervene in individual cases. [ 3 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reports the expected disciplinary procedure and adds that Ji was assigned as a judicial research judge as of Oct 2. [ 4 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily reports the expected disciplinary procedure and the ruling-party criticism over the rejected warrants. [ 5 ]
- CBS NoCut News reports the disciplinary procedure and quotes Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Seong-yun criticising the four warrant rejections. [ 8 ]