Average processing times for first-trial criminal cases in South Korea lengthened last year for both single-judge and panel cases, while the number of defendants whose first trials have dragged on beyond two years rose about 15% in a year. The trend contrasts with high-value civil suits, where first-trial times shortened over the same period.
Single-judge criminal cases at the first-trial level took an average of 6.5 months last year, up 0.4 month from 6.1 months a year earlier, according to the Supreme Court's judicial yearbook released on the 1st. Panel cases lengthened to 6.9 months from 6.6 months.
As of the end of last year, 4,843 defendants had been awaiting first-trial rulings for more than two years, up 14.7% from 4,223 a year earlier.
Appellate courts moved faster. High court cases took 4.9 months on average, down from 5.5 months, while appeals divisions at district courts trimmed their average to 7.4 months from 7.5 months. At the Supreme Court, single-judge cases were resolved in 2.1 months, down from 2.3 months, but panel cases stretched to 3.7 months from 2.9 months.
Defendants waiting more than two years also declined at the appellate level, falling to 343 from 358, and at the Supreme Court to 117 from 149.
Prosecutors sought 27,955 pretrial detention warrants from courts nationwide last year, roughly unchanged from 27,948 a year earlier. Requests had climbed from 21,988 in 2021 to 22,590 in 2022, 26,272 in 2023 and 27,948 in 2024 before flattening last year.
Courts approved 21,962 of those requests, for an approval rate of 78.6%. The rate had fallen from 82.0% in 2021 to 81.4% in 2022, 79.5% in 2023 and 76.9% in 2024 before rebounding 1.7 percentage points last year.
Requests for search and seizure warrants totaled 534,550 last year, down 0.2% from 535,576 a year earlier. Such requests had risen steadily from 347,623 in 2021 to 396,807 in 2022, 457,160 in 2023 and 535,576 in 2024, halting the increase last year.
Courts granted 484,448 search and seizure warrants, an approval rate of 90.6%. The rate has topped 90% for five years, at 91.3% in 2021, 91.1% in 2022, 90.8% in 2023 and 91.2% in 2024.
Petitions to review the legality of detention and arrest increased. District courts received 2,164 detention review petitions and 34 arrest review petitions last year, for a combined 2,198, up 6.4% from 2,065 a year earlier.
Among first-trial criminal verdicts, 25.1% imposed fines and 63.3% imposed prison terms last year, compared with 24.5% and 63.6% in 2024. Among prison sentences, the share suspended has fallen steadily from 55.2% in 2021 to 50.0% last year.
The share of prison terms actually served rose in some ranges. Sentences of three to five years accounted for 6.6% of cases, up from 6.2%, and those of five to 10 years rose to 3.0% from 2.8%. Terms of less than one year stood at 14.5%, one to three years at 25.0% and 10 years or more at 0.5%, all unchanged from a year earlier.
Life sentences were handed down to 33 people, up from 29 a year earlier. Murder accounted for the largest share at 15, followed by theft and robbery at four, violations of the law on aggravated punishment for specific crimes at three, violations of the special law on punishment of sexual violence crimes at two, and injury and assault and rape and indecent acts at one each.
Criminal cases filed nationwide totaled 1,762,877 defendants last year, down 3.1% from 1,819,492 a year earlier. Of those, 342,426 involved formal trials, 409,281 were summary proceedings, 112,356 were summary trial cases and 898,814 fell into other categories, including warrant requests and criminal petitions.
By offense, fraud and extortion accounted for the most first-trial criminal cases at 40,078 defendants, followed by traffic law violations at 26,562, injury and assault at 16,351 and theft and robbery at 9,903. Violations of the law on aggravated punishment for specific economic crimes rose 15.7% to 2,999.
The appeal rate for first-trial criminal verdicts was 48.3%, down 0.5 percentage point from 48.8%. Of the 218,868 defendants who received first-trial rulings last year, 105,628 appealed.
