On the 25th, the day of the detention warrant hearing for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, lawyer Lee Ha-sang, who represents the former minister, speaks to reporters at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu. [Yonhap News] The lawyer for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who was sentenced to 15 days of detention for causing a disturbance in court, has been detained. This comes two months after the detention sentence was issued. The judge who issued the detention order personally appeared in court and moved swiftly to execute the detention of the lawyer whose trial had concluded.

According to legal circles on the 3rd, the Criminal Chamber 33 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan) executed the detention of lawyer Lee Ha-sang, who represents former Minister Kim.

Judge Lee, who presided over the case of former Minister Kim at Criminal Chamber 34 of the same court, had recently sentenced former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison, a harsher sentence than that sought by the special prosecutor team investigating the rebellion.

Judge Lee, the presiding judge of Criminal Chamber 33, personally executed the detention immediately after the trial of former Minister Kim, which was being heard by Criminal Chamber 34 of the same court, had concluded.

It is known that as soon as the hearing concluded and the judges of Criminal Chamber 34 left the courtroom, Judge Lee entered the courtroom accompanied by court bailiffs, presented the detention order to lawyer Lee, and proceeded with the execution.

According to relevant laws, detention is executed by order of the presiding judge. Court officials, prison guards, or police officers, upon receiving the judge's order, take the person subject to detention to a detention facility.

Lawyer Lee will be held at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, until the 16th.

Considering that he was held for one day at the detention center on November 19 last year, the day the detention was ordered, the detention period will be applied for 14 days.

Detention refers to confining a person who has violated court order in a prison or detention center for a certain period by order of the presiding judge.

Lawyer Lee and lawyer Kwon Woo-hyun had requested to be allowed to sit next to former Minister Kim, who was attending as a witness, during the ongoing trial for former Prime Minister Han on charges of abetting rebellion and other offenses, which was being heard by Criminal Chamber 33, in their capacity as individuals with a relationship of trust.

When the presiding judge did not grant their request, they protested by not leaving the public gallery despite repeated admonitions from the court, causing a disturbance in the courtroom. Ultimately, the court sentenced them to 15 days of detention for violating court order and immediately executed it.

However, the Seoul Detention Center requested supplementary information, stating that the personal details of the two lawyers were not sufficiently identified. The court deemed the execution of detention difficult and suspended the execution order on the same day.

Amidst the controversy, the Ministry of Justice introduced an improvement measure to relax the identification requirements for individuals subject to detention. This method involves using a confirmation document issued by the court official handing over the individual to the prison guard, as a substitute for missing personal information, if the person was identified during the court proceedings.

On this day, the detention execution process proceeded smoothly as the court identified lawyer Lee's personal information.

Lawyer Kwon, who received the detention sentence along with lawyer Lee, was not present at court this day, and therefore the detention was not executed. The competent court is expected to secure lawyer Kwon's custody through appropriate means later and execute the detention.

The legal team representing former Minister Kim strongly protested the court's decision to execute the detention.

Another lawyer for former Minister Kim, lawyer Yoo Seung-soo, issued a statement, claiming that the detention of a lawyer in another case by a judge would be recorded as a blemish in the history of the South Korean judiciary. He argued, "The rule of law should not be violated for even one second due to the transgression of one judge."

He further stated, "We will immediately file a motion for a stay of execution against this detention order, which constitutes a criminal act of abuse of authority that is unconstitutional."