Muan County Council Adopts Resolution Condemning Supreme Court's Political Intervention

"Clear Political Intervention and Infringement on Popular Sovereignty," Criticism

The Muan County Council in South Jeolla Province (Chairperson: Lee Hosung) has strongly condemned the Supreme Court's decision to remand the case of candidate Lee Jaemyung, who was charged with violating the Public Official Election Act, with the intent of a guilty verdict. The council has also called for judicial reform.

According to the county council on May 14, during the first plenary session of the 301st extraordinary meeting held the previous day, the council unanimously adopted a resolution titled "Condemnation of the Supreme Court's Political Intervention and Call for the Restoration of Judicial Trust," which was proposed by council member Lim Yuntaek.

County council members are condemning the Supreme Court's political intervention and urging the restoration of judicial trust. Provided by Muan County Council

In the resolution, the county council stated, "On the first of this month, the Supreme Court intervened at the heart of a specific election's political process, shaking the foundations of South Korea's democratic order and undermining trust in the judiciary." The council criticized, "By rushing to deliver a verdict in just nine days without sufficient deliberation and discussion, the judiciary attempted to cut away the sovereign people's right to choose with the blade of the court."

The council continued, "The majority of citizens will not tolerate the judiciary's irrational and blatant political intervention," and urged, "The government and the National Assembly must pursue an unprecedented level of fundamental reform of the judiciary to establish a rule-of-law system that the people can trust."

The council also asserted, "If the judiciary has even a minimal sense of indebtedness to the independence of judicial power, which was built upon the sacrifices of the people, it should make every effort toward self-purification in order to restore fairness and trust."

Council member Lim stated, "The Supreme Court's decision in this case was clearly a political intervention, both in timing and content, and an infringement on the sovereignty of the people. Therefore, a judicial reform plan that the public can accept must be established."