Judge Kim Taegyu: "'Judicial Scandal' Whistleblowers Lee Sujin and Lee Tanhee Are Heading into Politics as Election Season Approaches"

Kim Tae-gyu, Chief Judge of Busan District Court

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] Kim Taegyu, Chief Judge of the Busan District Court, criticized judges running for the April 15 general election.

On the 2nd, Chief Judge Kim posted an article titled "Regarding the Worst Judicial Turmoil Since the Founding of the Nation and the Future Positions of Some of Its Key Figures" on his Facebook page.

Chief Judge Kim said, "When someone raised suspicions and the media picked them up to expand public opinion, those who initially raised the suspicions or sympathized with them repeatedly demanded investigations, thereby enlarging the scale of the judicial turmoil," adding, "The suspicions grew to include the case of former National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon and eventually allegations that the court engaged in trial trading to establish a high-level appellate court."

He continued, "This repeated process inflicted a fatal blow to the judiciary's morality, exaggerated and amplified the negative aspects of these actions to maximize public criticism, and further induced prosecution investigations," adding, "This does not seem to be happening accidentally without any purpose or direction. It appears to be carried out with a certain purpose, and the intensification of the situation at each stage seems to be a process of building justification to achieve that purpose."

He criticized, "The court has experienced the harshest judicial turmoil since the founding of the nation, and some judges who stood at the center of that stage hurriedly entered politics as the election season approached," adding, "The image of judges reflected in those individuals had not even faded yet when they rushed into politics." Recently, former Suwon District Court Chief Judge Lee Sujin and lawyer Lee Tanhee joined the Democratic Party and announced their intention to run in the general election.

Regarding lawyer Lee Tanhee, who promised to take the lead in impeaching corrupt judges if elected to the National Assembly, he said, "Some people declare their path as politicians yet still talk about 'judge impeachment,' which pains those remaining inside," adding, "Please consider that interfering with the court now could rather become a poison to the judiciary."