Court drama heroine serves as judge
The Seoul Central District Court appointed Park Jin-hee (fourth from left) and five others as honorary judges on Thursday. / Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
Three months ago, actress Park Jin-hee portrayed an attractive, divorced judge ― whose former husband has Alzheimer’s disease ― in TV court drama “Memory” on tvN. On Thursday, the actress realized her fictional job title in real life.
The Seoul Central District Court appointed Park, 38, as an honorary judge for the day, Elefun Entertainment, her agency, said Friday. The court saw the star’s cultivated image of modesty shown on and off the screen as deserving of the honor, according to media reports.
Wearing a judge’s black gown, Park sat next to judges and monitored them during a case.
“I realized that judges put a lot of effort and time into preparing each court case,” said Park, whose husband is a judge at the Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Court. “The experience got me to respect my husband more. I have got to feed him better with more tasty dishes.”
Park Jin-hee from "Memory" on tvN / Courtesy of tvN
The Seoul court also appointed five others from the arts, culture and civic campaigning as honorary judges for the day. The appointees were from the Korean National Council of Women, the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, the Korea Federation of Organizations of the Disabled, TV broadcaster MBC and Yonhap News Agency.
“The appointments were our bid to invite civilians and introduce to them changes made in national courts to improve their legal environment,” the Seoul court said.
Park has been in the spotlight since playing a ghost disguised as a high school girl in horror movie “Whispering Corridors” (1998).