Judge Who Harshed Prison Sentence for Ex-South Korean First Lady Found Dead
A judge in South Korea was found dead on Wednesday (6/5). He was the judge who had increased the prison sentence for South Korea’s former first lady last month.
“Shin Jong-o was found unconscious around 01:00 (1600 GMT on Tuesday)… in the Seoul High Court building,” said an investigator at the Seocho district police office, as reported by AFP news agency on Wednesday (6/5/2026).
Shin was taken to hospital and declared dead, he said. He added: “There are no signs of criminality in the death.”
The police investigator said that “the grieving judge’s family is deeply affected by the incident and requests privacy”.
Local media reported that Shin had left a will, but the investigator said there was none.
Last month, Shin led the appeal hearing for South Korea’s former first lady, 53-year-old Kim Keon Hee. Shin declared her guilty of stock manipulation and bribery, and increased her prison sentence to four years from the previous 20 months.
This much harsher sentence was imposed after the court overturned the previous lower court decision on the stock price manipulation charges.
“The court sentences the defendant to four years’ imprisonment and imposes a fine of 50 million won (Rp 584.5 million),” stated the Seoul High Court ruling broadcast live on television on Tuesday (28/4).
The Seoul High Court stated that Kim was guilty of manipulating the stock price of Deutsch Motors, a South Korean car dealership, which the court described as “a collusive market manipulation trading act”.
“The defendant appears to have participated in the act,” said the court when overturning the lower court’s decision regarding the stock price manipulation charges.
Kim, who is the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is also imprisoned, was sentenced to 20 months in prison last January on bribery charges after receiving luxury gifts from a church resembling a sect.
She appealed the decision in hopes of clearing her name. Meanwhile, prosecutors also appealed, arguing that the sentence was too lenient and that the dismissal of the stock manipulation charges was invalid.
The Seoul High Court, in its ruling on Tuesday (28/4), stated that Kim “failed to acknowledge her wrongdoing and instead repeatedly made excuses”.
Due to the bribes received by Kim, according to the Seoul High Court, “public trust in the transparency of state affairs and the fair implementation of national policies has been damaged”.