Top court to cooperate with probe into 'judiciary abuse'

By Kim Hyun-bin

Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su said Friday he will cooperate with prosecutors investigating allegations that the top court under his predecessor used trial verdicts as bargaining chips in dealings with the former administration.

However, he added the Supreme Court will not launch another separate internal investigation or file a complaint with prosecutors.

“As a branch that is responsible to give final rulings, we cannot launch an internal investigation or press charges,” he said. “However, we will reveal all relevant materials.”

Kim has ordered to permanently preserve all relevant investigative materials obtained by an internal probe team.

“The judicial branch is not immune to the rule of law. Some of our members may face investigations, and we can't evade or reject them,” Kim said. “I have imposed punitive measures against 13 judges, relieving them of their trial duties.”

An internal Supreme Court probe has revealed the National Court Administration under the top court wrote a report in March 2015 on how to take advantage of high-profile cases in persuading senior presidential aides into supporting then-Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae's plan to establish a “Second Supreme Court.”

Yang, who served under ousted President Park Geun-hye, allegedly influenced Supreme Court decisions and created a blacklist of mostly liberal judges who were opposed to the plan. Yang is accused of deliberately using politically sensitive trials as bargaining chips to curry favor with the Park administration in exchange for the establishment of the new judicial body.

Yang allegedly used cases involving unions and a former spy chief whose verdicts could affect the Park administration.

The proposed court had been brought up to redistribute the workload of cases with the highest court. The Supreme Court would take care of high-profile or political cases while the other court would review “smaller cases.”

There was opposition to this system amid concerns Supreme Court judges could further extend their power. Yang has denied the accusations, denying all unjust interference in trials and saying he never leveraged trials for political gains. He also denied creating a blacklist of liberal judges.

The revelations sparked calls for the prosecution to conduct a criminal investigation of those allegedly involved.