All military judges at the Central Regional Military Court, who are overseeing the trial of active-duty military generals charged with engaging in major insurrection-related activities linked to the December 3 martial law, will be replaced next month.
The Ministry of Defense recently held a military judges’ personnel committee meeting to review the regular appointment of military judges for the next year, and decided to implement these changes at the beginning of the next month.
As part of these personnel changes, Colonel Kim Jong-il, who has been presiding over the martial law-related trials at the Central Regional Military Court since the beginning of this year, along with two lieutenant colonels serving as associate judges, will all be replaced.
Judge Kim will be transferred to the 4th Regional Military Court, while the two associate judges have applied for discharge and are set to leave the military in the first half of next year.
Currently, the Central Regional Military Court is handling trials for current military officers, including former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun, former Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung, former Capital Defense Commander Lee Jin-woo, and former Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho.