Judge requests police protection after issuing arrest warrant for Pres. Yoon

Judge Cha Eun-kyung of the Seoul Western District Court, who issued an arrest warrant for a sitting president for the first time in Korea’s constitutional history on charges of leading a rebellion, requested personal protection from the police regarding the incident involving President Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters breaking into the courthouse.

After the judge issued an arrest warrant at around 2:50 a.m. on Sunday on concerns that the suspect was destroying evidence, supporters of President Yoon stormed into the Seoul Western District Court, broke windows and other facilities, and demanded Judge Cha. It is reported that Judge Cha was not on the court grounds at the time. Accordingly, Judge Cha requested personal protection from the police on Sunday morning. The police will protect Cha's safety on her way to work on Monday.

Judge Cha is a Civil Division 1-3 member of the Seoul Western District Court and is not a judge exclusively in charge of warrants. She was assigned to review the case as the on-duty judge for the weekend when President Yoon's warrant review was held. After graduating from the Department of Economics at Ewha Womans University, she worked as a researcher at the Energy Economics Institute and passed the 40th bar exam in 1998.


손준영 hand@donga.com