Video of Constitutional Court Justice Nominee's Confirmation Hearing from April 2019 Draws Attention
On the 4th, the acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Moon Hyung-bae, who read the ruling in the impeachment trial of former President Yoon Seok-yeol, became a topic of discussion for the assets he declared during his confirmation hearing six years ago.
Recently, a video titled "The Reason Why Constitutional Court Justice Moon Hyung-bae Has Few Assets" was shared online, showing Moon, then a nominee for Constitutional Court Justice in April 2019, undergoing a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Moon Hyung-bae, Acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, is reading the decision to accept the impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 4th at the Grand Bench of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps
In the video, Baek Hye-ryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asked Moon, "It seems that the average assets of Constitutional Court justices are around 2 billion KRW, but your assets are 675.45 million KRW. Considering you have served as a judge for 27 years, isn't that too little?"
Moon replied, "I made a vow when I got married. I thought I should not stray from the life of an average person." He added, "According to recent statistics, the average household assets in our country are about 300 million KRW. My assets are just under 400 million KRW."
He continued, "The 670 million KRW includes my father's assets, and my own assets are just under 400 million KRW. I feel I have slightly exceeded the average assets and am reflecting on that."
Upon hearing this, laughter spread throughout the hearing room, and Representative Baek also gave an embarrassed smile, saying, "We, who are conducting the hearing, rather feel sorry."
At that time, Moon also stated his position to eradicate preferential treatment for former officials by pledging not to open a law firm for profit after retiring as a Constitutional Court justice.
Later, when Park Ji-won, then a member of the Party for Democracy and Peace, asked again, "I repeatedly express my respect for the candidate's morality," Moon responded, "I am ashamed." He also answered "humility" when asked about the most important virtue of a public official.
A person named A, who saved this video, posted an article titled "The Reason Why Constitutional Court Justice Moon Hyung-bae Has Few Assets" on an online community.
Author A wrote, "While other Constitutional Court justices have assets of 2 billion KRW, Justice Moon's assets are less than 400 million KRW because of his vow not to stray from the life of an average person," adding, "The phrase 'Respected Justice' naturally comes to mind."
As of 10 a.m. that day, the post had recorded 710,000 views. Netizens who saw the video left comments such as "I respect him," "He is truly an honest person," "Amazing," and "He must have faced many temptations."
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