Military high court to get first female chief judge

Army Brigadier General Lee Eun-soo will be inaugurated as the nation’s first woman Chief Judge of the High Court for Armed Services on Friday.

The 47-year-old was also the first woman to be commissioned as a judge advocate in 1991. She was also the nation’s first woman to hold other posts in the military judiciary, including chief judge of a general military court.

She graduated from the school of law of Kyungpook National University in 1989 and passed a state exam to recruit judge advocates in 1990.

Lee worked at Korea Development Institute, a state-run think tank, for about a year after graduating from the university, before joining the army as a judge advocate.

At the conclusion of her 10-year obligatory service, she studied at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. as an exchange professor for six months. She then extended her military career.

Currently, there are 560 judge advocates, 52 of them women.

In Korea, judge advocates are selected from successful applicants for an exam to recruit judges and prosecutors and from those who pass an exam to commission advocate judges. Military service is a duty for all men in Korea, and women may volunteer.

Established in July 1, 2000, the High Court for Armed Services reviews and decides appeals from trial courts, and also overseas general administrative matters of the military court.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)