'Judicial Corruption Acquittal' Yang Seungtae in Appeal: "Prosecution Misleads the Public"... Prosecution Seeks 7-Year Prison Term

Yang Seungtae's Final Plea in Appellate Trial:
"The Prosecution Claims Black Is White... The Appeal Must Be Dismissed"

The prosecution has requested a seven-year prison sentence in the appellate trial for former Chief Justice Yang Seungtae, who was acquitted in the first trial after being indicted over the so-called "judicial corruption" scandal. Yang argued that "the prosecution is concealing the truth and misleading the public," insisting that the appeal should be dismissed. The appellate court's verdict is scheduled for November 26.

Former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, who was indicted and detained on suspicion of judicial farming, arrived at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 29th to attend his first trial. He got off the transport vehicle and headed to the courtroom. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On September 3, during the sentencing hearing for Yang held by the Criminal Division 14-1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Park Hyesun, Oh Youngsang, and Lim Jonghyo), the prosecution made this sentencing request. The prosecution also sought a five-year prison sentence for former Supreme Court Justice Park Byungdae and a four-year sentence for former Supreme Court Justice Ko Younghan, who were tried alongside Yang.

The prosecution stated, "After media reports on the so-called 'judicial blacklist' emerged, the court initiated its own investigation, which was followed by a prosecutorial probe," adding, "The court's internal investigation confirmed that many acts constituted abuse of judicial administrative authority."

Yang and others were accused of improperly intervening in lawsuits such as the damages claims by victims of forced labor during Japanese occupation, the case regarding the notification of the outlawed status of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, and of pressuring the International Human Rights Law Research Society and its subgroup, the Human Rights and Judicial System Society (Insamo), to hinder their activities. The prosecution described these actions as "inappropriate exercise of judicial administrative power" and asserted that "the original ruling needs to be corrected."

Yang Seungtae's Final Statement: "The Prosecution Conceals the Truth and Misleads the Public... The Appeal Should Be Dismissed"

In his final statement, Yang said, "The prosecution mobilized countless prosecutors to seize all internal court documents and conducted a sweeping search of every corner of the court," adding, "To achieve their goal, they concealed the truth and misled the public through extreme distortion, exaggeration, and unreasonable arguments."

He continued, "The first trial panel devoted tremendous effort over a long period to uncover the substantial truth amid hundreds of thousands of pages of investigation and litigation records and endless witness examinations," adding, "The prosecution is insisting that black is white, filing an appeal and even resorting to insults. This appeal should rightfully be dismissed."

Yang was indicted in February 2019 on 47 charges, including intervening in cases such as the Supreme Court appeal on forced labor during Japanese occupation, the National Intelligence Service's election interference case, and the lawsuit regarding the status of former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers, in an attempt to seek support from the Blue House during the Park Geunhye administration for the introduction of an appellate court.

Yang also faces charges of compiling the so-called "judiciary blacklist" to disadvantage judges critical of judicial administration in personnel decisions. Additionally, he is accused of leaking internal secrets of the Constitutional Court and using them in a power struggle with the Constitutional Court. Former Justices Park and Ko, who served as chiefs of the National Court Administration at the time, were also indicted as accomplices to the main charges.

Last year, the first trial court acquitted Yang and the two former justices of all charges, five years after their indictment. The court stated, "While some charges could be considered abuse of authority, the evidence presented by the prosecution does not prove that Yang conspired to commit the crimes."

The prosecution's investigation into the judicial corruption allegations was conducted while former President Yoon Sukyeol was serving as chief prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. Han Donghoon, former leader of the People Power Party, led the investigation as the third deputy chief prosecutor at the time.