**Central District Court Criminal Division 25, First Trial Preparation Date Set**
**President Yoon’s Obligation to Attend Not Required**
The criminal trial for President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has been detained and indicted on charges of leading a rebellion, will commence on the 20th. The Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 25 (presiding judge Ji Gwui-yeon) has set the first trial preparation date for President Yoon for 10 a.m. on the 20th. A trial preparation date is when the court, prosecution, and defense organize the key issues and future trial procedures before the main trial begins. President Yoon is not obligated to attend the trial directly on that day.
The Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 25 is also handling cases of former officials, including Kim Yong-hyun, former Defense Minister; Cho Ji-ho, former National Police Chief; Kim Bong-sik, former Seoul Police Chief; Noh Sang-won, former Intelligence Commander; and Kim Yong-kun, former Colonel. Excluding active military personnel such as Yeon In-hyeong, former Counterintelligence Commander, and others, who are being tried in the Central Regional Military Court, all are being reviewed by the Criminal Division 25.
The presiding judge, Ji Gwui-yeon (31st class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), hails from Suncheon, Jeolla Province, and graduated from Gaepo High School and Seoul National University Law School. He began his career as a judge at Incheon District Court in 2005 and has served as a judge at Seoul Family Court, Suwon District Court, and a chief judge at Busan District Court’s Dongbu Branch. He has also served twice as a research judge at the Supreme Court for a total of six years, earning a reputation for his legal expertise.
After becoming the chief judge at the Seoul Central District Court in February 2023, Judge Ji presided over the first trial of the ‘Samsung Illegal Succession of Management Control’ case, acquitting Samsung Electronics’ Chairman Lee Jae-yong of all 19 charges in February last year. In September of the same year, he sentenced actor Yoo Ah-in (real name Uhm Hong-shik) to one year in prison and a fine of 2 million won for habitual drug use and detained him in court. Additionally, in June last year, he sentenced eight furniture companies, including Hanssem, and 11 executives and employees to guilty verdicts for colluding in a 2.3 trillion won bid for built-in furniture contracts in new apartments.
Previously, in April 2014, while serving at the Suwon District Court, he sentenced two city council members from Gyeonggi Province to four months in prison and one year of probation for proxy voting during the proportional representation primaries of the Unified Progressive Party.