The first formal trial of former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is accused of ordering major allies to deliver a message justifying the December 3 emergency martial law, will be held next week.
Also, in the trial of Kim Se-ui, the CEO of Garosero Research Institute, who was indicted on charges of defamation, the victim, actor Kim Soo-hyun, appears in court as a witness and is interrogated.
According to the legal community on the 8th, Criminal Agreement 38-1 Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judges Jang Seong-jin, Su-young Jeong, and Choi Young-gak) will hold the first trial of former President Yoon and former National Security Office Director Shin Won-sik on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights at 2 p.m. on the 13th.
They were indicted in August of this year on charges of ordering the National Security Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deliver a message to the United States, Britain, Japan, and the European Union (EU), etc., immediately after the declaration of martial law on December 3, to the effect that martial law was justified.
The message reportedly contained contents such as 'This measure is to protect liberal democracy' and 'President Yoon Seok-yeol maintains his stance of opposing pro-North Korea leftists and anti-Americanism.'
At the trial preparation date held earlier, former President Yoon's defense team completely denied the charges, saying that he had not given any relevant instructions or that it was a routine performance of diplomatic duties.
The court ordered the 2nd special prosecutor Kwon Chang-young, who was in charge of the investigation and prosecution, to supplement the indictment, saying, "It appears that there are some things that are unclear or omitted in the indictment."
On the same day, the Seoul High Court's Civil Division 18-3 (Judge Jin Hyeon-min, Wang Jeong-wook, and Park Seon-jun) will deliver the second trial verdict in the management rights lawsuit between Korea Zinc and Youngpoong.
In this lawsuit, Korea Zinc and Youngpoong argued over the legality of the issuance of new shares allocated to a third party at the beginning of the management rights dispute lawsuit.
In August 2023, Korea Zinc issued 1,045,430 new shares to HMG Global, an overseas affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, in the form of a third-party paid-in capital increase. Through this, Hyundai Motor Group now owns approximately 5% of Korea Zinc's shares.
It was a measure based on Korea Zinc's Articles of Incorporation, which states, 'If the company issues new shares to a foreign joint venture due to management needs, new shares may be issued to a third party other than shareholders.'
However, Youngpoong filed a lawsuit in March 2024 to invalidate the issuance of new shares, claiming that such third-party allocation paid-in capital increase was illegal.
Young Poong argued that HMG Global cannot be viewed as a ‘foreign joint venture.’
Last June, the first trial ruled in favor of Youngpoong. The court ruled that because Korea Zinc did not invest in HMG Global, HMG Global could not be considered a ‘joint venture’ and therefore pointed out that Korea Zinc violated the Articles of Incorporation.
On the 11th, actor Kim Soo-hyun will appear as a witness at the trial of Representative Kim Se-eui's alleged violation of the Information and Communications Network Act, which will be held at the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 26 (Chief Judge Lee Hyun-kyung).
Representative Kim was arrested and indicted in June of this year on charges of spreading false information through YouTube, etc. that Kim Soo-hyun dated the late Kim Sae-ron, who was a minor, and that the direct cause of Kim Sae-ron's death was Kim Soo-hyun's pressure to repay debt.
He was also charged with defaming Kim Soo-hyun by distributing Kim Sae-ron's voice manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI), disclosing Kim Soo-hyun's private photos without permission, and threatening to expose personal information.
While CEO Kim completely denies the charges, the witness examination of the victim, Kim Soo-hyun, is expected to be conducted in private.
The first trial of actor Lee Jae-ryong, who was involved in a hit-and-run accident in Gangnam, Seoul, will also be held on the 13th by Chief Judge Lee Jae-wook of the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 10.
Lee Jae-ryong was indicted without detention in August on charges of crashing into a median and running away while driving near Cheongdam Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul around 11 PM on March 6th of this year.
He attended another drinking party immediately after the accident and was arrested at an acquaintance's house about three hours later.
The police believed that Mr. Lee attempted to get rid of evidence of drunk driving by drinking again after the drunken accident and sent him on a drunk driving charge, but this charge was omitted during the indictment stage.
The prosecution determined that it was not clearly proven that Mr. Lee's blood alcohol content at the time of driving was over 0.03%.
In addition, the first trial of former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, who is accused of considering dispatching prosecutors to the Martial Law Joint Investigation Headquarters under the direction of Justice Minister Park Sung-jae during the December 3 martial law, will be held on the 10th, and the first trial of former Army Capital Defense Command 1st Security Group Commander (Colonel) Cho Seong-hyun, who is accused of giving orders for military superiors to dispatch the National Assembly during the martial law, will be held on the 12th.
