The Tamesis
May 6, 2026
Seoul – Court of Appeal Judge Shin Jong-oh, who presided over the appeal trial that sentenced former first lady Kim Gun-hee to four years in prison, was found dead near the Seoul High Court in southern Seoul at around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, eight days after the ruling.
Seoul’s Seocho Police Department said Shin was believed to have fallen from a building and police were investigating the specific cause of his death.
Police found a suspected suicide note that reportedly made no mention of the appeal ruling involving King. According to local reports, the note simply read: “I’m sorry. I left voluntarily.” Police do not suspect foul play.
In an April 28 ruling, Shin overturned part of a lower court’s decision that sentenced Kim to 20 months in prison after finding her guilty on some bribery charges related to the Unification Church.
The Court of Appeal ruled that King had partially breached the Capital Markets Act in the Deutsche Auto stock manipulation case. It also found her guilty of all influence-peddling offenses under the Aggravated Punishment for Specified Offenses Act for accepting valuables from the Unification Church.
The court sentenced her to four years in prison and fined her 50 million won ($34,200). It also ordered the seizure of Graff necklaces worth 62.2 million won and another 20.94 million won.
Shin was born in Seoul and began his judicial career in 2011 at the Uijeongbu Branch of the Seoul District Court.
