Kathmandu. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A judge hearing an appeal in a corruption caseinvolving former South Korean First Lady Kim Kim Keon-hee has been found dead. According to Yonhap news agency,Seoul High Court judge Shin was found dead near the court building, Yonhap news agency reported. 

He was found dead at around 1 a. m. local time during a search by the police at midnight.Police have launched a probe into the cause of his death. 

The case relates to former South Korean President Kyun Yoon Suk-yeolki wife Kim . On Monday, the special prosecutor team appealed to the Supreme Court against the high court’s decision to sentence Kim to four years in prison on charges of stock market manipulation and corruption. 

On April 28, the Seoul High Court overturned a lower court’s decision to increase Kim’s prison sentence from 20 months to four years. The court also imposed a fine of 50 million won US in addition to the prison sentence. However, the special prosecutor team has been seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Kim. Judge Shin was involved in the hearing process of this sensitive case.