Judge Jung Jae-wook, who decided to detain Kim Kun-hee

On the 13th, Kim Kun-hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, was detained, drawing attention to Judge Jung Jae-wook (55, Judicial Research and Training Institute 30th class), the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court who issued the detention warrant.

Judge Jung held a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) for Mrs. Kim that morning and, after more than nine hours of deliberation, issued the warrant without hesitation, citing "concern for evidence destruction" as the reason.

A judge from the Police Academy… Known for calm and rational judgment

Judge Jung, who hails from Busan, graduated from Busan Jin High School and the Police Academy (8th class) before working in the police force. He passed the bar exam in 1998. Since 2001, he has worked as a lawyer for the Korea Legal Aid Corporation and was appointed as a judge after completing training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute in 2007.

He has since served as a judge at the Busan District Court, Suwon District Court, and Seoul Central District Court, and has also worked as the chief judge at the Ulsan District Court and Suwon District Court. Since February of this year, he has been serving as a judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court. In the legal community, he is regarded as a "calm and rational judge who comprehensively reviews the grounds for detention."

Detention decisions in 'conspiracy to insurrection' and 'Gunjin Beopsa solicitation' cases

On the 1st of this month, Judge Jung, after about seven hours of deliberation, issued a detention warrant for former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, who is charged with conspiracy to insurrection related to the "12·3 martial law."

On the 30th of last month, he also decided to detain Yoon, a key figure in the "Gunjin Beopsa solicitation allegation," stating there were "concerns for evidence destruction and flight."

In contrast, in April, he rejected a detention warrant for former and current employees of IBK Industrial Bank, who were implicated in a suspicious loan amounting to hundreds of billions of won, saying, "The submitted materials alone do not sufficiently acknowledge the circumstances of involvement or intent of crime."

Image source: Kim Kun-hee / News1