Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Judge Kim in spotlight for ruling on ex-spy chief
By Lee Kyung-min
Kim Sang-hwan
By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul High Court Judge Kim Sang-hwan has drawn public admiration after jailing former spy agency chief Won Sei-hoon for three years on Monday for meddling in the 2012 presidential election.
Some online users have praised Kim as a hero for democracy.
In his verdict, the judge called for political neutrality at the National Intelligence Service, saying its involvement in elections hurt democracy and thereby deserved strict punishment.
“The more politically neutral the spy agency is, the more it garners public trust,” he said.
Won was immediately jailed.
In January, Kim found two podcast talk show hosts not guilty of defaming the late President Park Chung-hee and his son Park Ji-man, younger brother of President Park Geun-hye.
The duo ― independent journalist Kim Eo-jun and news magazine Sisain reporter Joo Jin-woo ― were indicted for speaking about Park Ji-man’s possible involvement in the death of his cousin and for alleging Park Chung-hee had been with “a prostitute his daughter’s age” when his aide shot him dead in 1979.
Ruling in favor of the reporters, Kim stressed that freedom of expression was a core value in any democratic society.
"They both had reason to believe what they said was true,” he said in his ruling at the time. “Being prosecuted or persecuted for speaking one’s mind heavily compromises the health of our the society.”
Kim has developed a reputation as a judge not reluctant to face off against Korea’s rich and powerful people.
In 2010, he issued an arrest warrant against Chey Cheol-won, a cousin of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. This followed an incident in which Chey attacked a truck driver protesting in front of his office, with a baseball bat. He then paid the driver 20 million won ($18,000) saying, “This should cover it.”
Chey was sentenced to 18 months’ jail, suspended for three years.
The judge was born in 1966 in Daejeon in 1966. He graduated from Bomoon High School and majored in law at Seoul National University. He passed the state bar exam in 1988 and since then has worked at the Constitutional Court, Busan District Court, and the Supreme Court as a trial analysis researcher.