Briefly

SOUTH KOREA

Judge in ex-first lady's case found dead

A South Korean judge who presided over the appeal trial of former first lady Kim Keon-hee's Deutsch Motors stock manipulation and other charges was found dead early on Wednesday, Yonhap News Agency reported. Shin Jong-oh, a judge at the Seoul High Court, was found in a flower bed near the court building in Seoul. A suicide note was found at the scene, and police are investigating the exact cause of death. A special counsel team on Monday appealed to South Korea's Supreme Court against an appellate court ruling that sentenced Kim, the wife of South Korea's former president Yoon Suk-yeol, to four years in prison over charges including stock manipulation and graft.