SEOUL: A South Korean judge who more than doubled the former first lady’s prison sentence last month was found dead on Wednesday, police said.

Shin Jong-o was “found unconscious around 1am (1600 GMT on Tuesday) at the Seoul High Court building”, an investigator at Seocho district police station said.

Shin was taken to hospital and pronounced dead, he said, adding: “There is no sign of foul play in the death.” Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none.

Last month, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim Keon Hee’s appeal trial, finding her guilty of stock manipulation and bribery, and increasing her sentence to four years from 20 months. The heavier sentence came after her acquittal by a lower court on the stock manipulation charge was overturned.

Shin said at the time that Kim had “failed to acknowledge her culpability and has instead consistently resorted to excuses”.

The police investigator said on Wednesday that the judge’s “bereaved family is stricken by the incident” and requests privacy.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026