Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun [Provided by the Constitutional Court. Resale and DB prohibited](Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Do-heon = The court has rejected the request for a "change of bench" filed by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is on trial for obstructing public duty by deception and instigating the destruction of evidence, as indicted by the special prosecutor's team for the rebellion case.

According to legal circles on the 18th, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 8 (Presiding Judges Kim Sung-soo, Kim Yun-jong, and Lee Jun-hyun) dismissed Kim's application for change of jurisdiction on the same day.

Previously, on the 11th, Kim's legal team submitted applications for change of jurisdiction and revocation of detention during a trial at the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 34 (Presiding Judge Han Sung-jin), stating, "We cannot stand trial before this bench if the illegal detention is maintained."

At the time, the bench stated, "It is difficult to proceed with the trial due to the application for change of jurisdiction," and concluded the trial in about 20 minutes, suspending the trial proceedings and deciding to schedule the next hearing at a later date.

With the high court's dismissal of Kim's application for change of jurisdiction on this day, the trial is expected to resume soon.

Previously, the special prosecutor's team led by Cho Eun-seok, which was in charge of the rebellion case related to former President Yoon Suk-yeol's 12·3 emergency martial law, additionally indicted Kim in June.

Kim is accused of deceiving the Presidential Security Service on December 2 last year to obtain a secret phone, and then handing it over to Noh Sang-won, former commander of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who is also a civilian accomplice in the rebellion.

When indicting Kim, the special prosecutor's team requested additional detention from the court as his previous detention period was nearing its end. The court issued an additional arrest warrant for Kim on June 25, citing concerns about the destruction of evidence.

Kim's legal team filed applications for objection, execution suspension, and recusal of the judge, claiming the indictment and detention were illegal, but all were dismissed by the court.

leedh@yna.co.kr

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