By Lee Kyung-min
The Supreme Court under former chief justice Yang Sung-tae had a detailed plan on how to get an association of liberal lawyers into changing their opposition to the establishment of a de facto Second Supreme Court, members of the group said Thursday.
The claim is the latest development in allegations of “abuse by the judiciary,” whereby a dozen officials at the Office of Court Administration (OCA) drafted documents on delivering “friendly verdicts” on politically sensitive trials to the previous Park Geun-hye administration in exchange for support for the new court. Officials at the the top court's administrative body also allegedly discussed measures to suppress critical, liberal voices within the judiciary by creating a “blacklist of judges.”
Three members of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society who were questioned at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said the OCA-drafted documents showed a two-pronged strategy was pursued against the group alongside efforts to identify its hierarchical structure and decision-making process, and figures wielding influence in these.
The OCA sought ways to give indirect support to minority voices that showed a neutral stance about the new court to divide the opinion within the group. The lawyers said the documents mentioned two lawyer-turned-lawmakers whose opinion could be more “effectively swayed.” The documents also outlined ways to meet members with more right-leaning political views and the group's legal affairs committee head.
A “big deal” was in store, in case that strategy failed, the lawyers continued. The OCA, which knew the group was representing former lawmakers of the now disbanded Unified Progressive Party seeking reinstatement at the National Assembly, would offer to obtain an outcome “favorable” to it.
The former lawmakers of the far-left party were stripped of their seats following a Constitutional Court decision in 2014 to disband the party for “supporting North Korea,” an organized, anti-state activity that it deemed undermined the country' national security, and was in violation of the Constitution. Prosecutors are looking into how much such efforts progressed and whether any tangible results followed. They found document in which the name of seven top-ranking officials of the group were mentioned under the heading of “blacklist” written in Korean.
Meanwhile, Yang's top initiative to set up the new court failed to materialize due to heated criticism that it would create a court between the top court and appellate courts. Yang sought to have the top court justices lead deliberations only on a handful of politically and socially significant landmark cases _ with far-reaching implications, and have the new court handle the greater number of remaining appeals cases.
The move was to unburden the top justices who have to rule on over 3,000 cases per year, but failed to gain public support as it would have inevitably required a substantial increase in senior judges that would help the top justices, a move welcomed by many senior judges nearing retirement wishing to hold onto their prestigious high-ranking public posts.