At 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Shin Jong-woo, the judge who convicted Kim Keon-hee, wife of former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, in the second trial of her stock manipulation case, was found dead in the Seoul High Court. A suicide note was found at the scene. Police have currently basically ruled out the possibility of homicide.
According to reports, South Korean police received an emergency call near midnight on Tuesday, and then, at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, discovered Shin Jong-woo in a flowerbed near the Seoul High Court building, and sent him to the hospital.
According to the Chosun Ilbo, police found a suicide note in Shin Jong-woo’s clothing, which included words such as “I’m sorry, I chose to leave on my own.” The note did not mention Kim Keon-hee or matters related to the trial.
Korean media reports say that police have basically ruled out homicide.
On April 28, in the second trial of Kim Keon-hee's first case, the court found her guilty of violating the Capital Markets Act and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, sentencing her to 4 years in prison for stock price manipulation and brokering bribery, and fined her 50 million Korean won (approx. 135,600 Malaysian ringgit). At the same time, the court ordered the confiscation of a valuable necklace she received and the recovery of over 20 million won (approx. 54,000 Malaysian ringgit).