ED Respect for the judiciary

The ruling party should stop labeling judges as evil

The government in Korea is divided into the legislative, judicial and administrative branches for the separation of power, a key element of democracy. But what's going on in the political world is seriously threatening the independence of the judiciary.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is going all out to attack the Seoul Central District Court's senior judge who convicted South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a close confidant of President Moon Jae-in, of having colluded in an online opinion manipulation scheme to help Moon in the lead-up to the 2017 presidential election.

The party even held a special conference to analyze the guilty verdict and staged a street rally to condemn the judge, Sung Chang-ho, at Gwanghwamun Square. The party leaders might be worrying that the judge's decision could damage the legitimacy of the presidential election. However, they went too far in censuring the judiciary and labeling the judge as evil.

Furthermore, Sung was one of 10 retired and sitting judges indicted by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office last week on charges of abuse of power. The governing party is apparently trying to wield influence over the prosecution by seeking political revenge on Sung for his verdict against the governor, who is seen as one of the party's potential presidential candidates.

In another deplorable case, supporters of the Moon government have lambasted a Seoul judge for releasing jailed former President Lee Myung-bak on bail. They even posted his photo on social media with slanderous comments.

The judiciary is the last bastion to safeguard democracy. How can people have faith in court rulings if the ruling camp intervenes in judges making a ruling? Even judges lament that they have become fearful of presiding over trials.

The ruling party should immediately stop their unreasonable behavior of attacking the judiciary, citing their signature slogan of “terminating the deep-rooted evils of the past regimes.” Otherwise, our democracy will only slide into crisis.