Yoon Sung-sik (left), Presiding Judge at the High Court, and Song Young-gil, leader of the Pine Tree Party. [Photo = Yonhap News]

Yoon Sung-sik, a High Court presiding judge who is among the first Supreme Court Justice candidates nominated under the Lee Jae-myung administration and who presided over the appellate trial for the "Democratic Party cash envelope scandal" involving Pine Tree Party leader Song Young-gil, has been reported to the police.

On the 20th, the civic group Citizens' Committee for Public Welfare (Secretary General Kim Soon-hwan) announced that it had filed a criminal complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 14th against Judge Yoon, the presiding judge of the 1st Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, on charges including the disclosure of official secrets.

Previously, around 6:00 PM on the 12th, the Pine Tree Party distributed a press release titled, "Song Young-gil, leader of the Pine Tree Party, acquitted in appellate trial... Endured a time of hardship. We will continue to move forward looking only at the people."

Then, at 11:20 AM the following day, the 13th, the 1st Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court held the sentencing hearing for the appeal of Song's case, which involved charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes and violations of the Political Parties Act and the Political Funds Act, and acquitted him.

In the first trial, Song had been found guilty on some charges and sentenced to two years in prison.

The complaint states, "Given that the press release regarding Representative Song Young-gil's acquittal, distributed a day before the sentencing, matches the court's ruling the following day, it is highly likely that the verdict was leaked in advance," adding, "If the act of leakage is true, it constitutes a violation of Article 65 of the Court Organization Act (prohibition of disclosure of deliberations) and Article 127 of the Criminal Act (disclosure of official secrets)."

Regarding the complaint by the Citizens' Committee, the Pine Tree Party stated, "The material distributed at the time, intended to 'welcome the acquittal,' was not an official press release but a draft for review," and added, "We have already issued a statement clarifying that the material sent out on the 12th was not an official press release."

Meanwhile, the 1st Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Judge Yoon, is the "specialized division for insurrection cases" responsible for the second trial of the insurrection case, and it will begin full-scale trial operations on the 23rd.

Judge Yoon was nominated on the 21st of last month as one of the four candidates for Supreme Court Justice to be appointed by the Lee Jae-myung administration.