South Korea Supreme Court finally rejects petition to suspend judge in Seongnam FC case: ”No concern of unfair trial”

The Supreme Court has finally rejected the prosecution's motion to suspend the judge in the trial of the South Korean professional soccer club Seongnam FC's subsidy scandal.
According to a South Korean legal professional on the 10th, the 3rd division of the Supreme Court decided to accept the second appeal filed by the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on the 5th.
Prior to this, on November 14th of last year, the prosecution filed a criminal complaint against the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court, which was currently investigating a bribery case involving business executives and public officials of Seongnam City in connection with the Seongnam FC support fund scandal.
The presiding judge ordered prosecutor Jung, who attended the trial on November 11 last year, to leave the courtroom. This was because Jung, who is a member of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office and was appointed as a "one-day acting judge,"
The reasoning was that participating in a trial without being a judge was a violation of the Prosecutor's Office Act. The four prosecutors who were present with Prosecutor Jeong immediately filed a protest, verbally indicated their intention to recuse themselves from the judgeship, and then left the courtroom.
The prosecutors left the courtroom and later submitted a motion to recuse themselves. The Seongnam branch's third criminal division did not accept the prosecutors' motion to recuse themselves, saying, "It does not appear that the judge will conduct an unfair trial."
The prosecution filed an appeal, but the Suwon High Court and the Supreme Court made the same final decision. The prosecution also filed an appeal against the presiding judge's order to remove the prosecutors from the courtroom, but this was dismissed at first instance, and the Suwon High Court upheld the appeal.
The appeal is currently underway. The first trial in the Seongnam FC support money scandal has not been held for nearly four months due to a motion to quash the prosecution. The Supreme Court ultimately rejected the motion to quash the prosecution.
The trial, scheduled for April 8, is expected to go ahead as normal.