Ex-Supreme Court justice summoned in judicial power abuse scandal

Former Supreme Court Justice Park Byong-dae walks into the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Monday, for questioning about his alleged involvement in abuse of judicial power. Members of the minor Minjung Party held a protest there to call for stern punishment for Park and others involved in the scandal, including former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

By Kim Jae-heun

The prosecution summoned former Supreme Court Justice Park Byong-dae, Monday, to question him over his alleged involvement in a judicial power abuse scandal that was led by then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae.

Park is the first former justice at the top court to be questioned openly about the scandal. The prosecution had a closed questioning of another former justice, Cha Han-sung, earlier this month.

“I fully dedicated myself to my job as a judge and I worked selflessly when I was serving at the National Court Administration (NCA),” Park said upon his arrival at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul.

“Regardless of the matter, I am heart-stricken and regretful that other judges may have suffered as a result of this investigation. I hope this case will get solved and the judiciary will regain the trust of the people.”

Park refused to answer any questions from the press and only repeated that he remained impartial.

He served as the chief of the court's administrative affairs body from 2014 to 2016, working with Lim Jong-hun, an NCA deputy head from 2015 to 2017 who was arrested in October for his role in the scandal.

Lim was accused of abuse of power as the key man in Yang's scheme to use verdicts as bargaining chips in dealing with the presidential office during former President Park Geun-hye's administration. Yang's long-cherished wish was to establish a de facto second supreme court, which needed presidential approval.

Park was named as an accomplice at Lim's arraignment.

Yang allegedly ordered his officials, including Park and Lim, to rule in favor of the conservative government on important trials that would have a political impact. He also applied pressure on subordinate judges to give verdicts in favor of the administration.

One of the trials Yang is suspected to have interfered with is the compensation suit filed by Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor. The trial had been held up in the top court for five years, and prosecutors believe Lim and Park were involved in postponing the Korean victims' damages suit against a Japanese company.

It helped the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to buy time when President Park's foreign policy toward Japan was friendly.

Park is also accused of helping Yang raise a slush fund with money that was supposed to be allocated to other courts.

Prosecutors are likely to summon Park several more times over his connections to dozens of allegations. After interrogations, the prosecution will decide whether to seek an arrest warrant for him. They will also summon another former justice, Ko Young-han, who took charge of the NCA after Park.

As prosecutors suspect Park colluded with Yang, the latter is expected to be summoned in the near future.

Judges from local district courts across the country had a rare meeting and concluded that their senior peers who were involved in the scandal should be impeached.

“We recognized that NCA officials involved in such unconstitutional acts, such as discussing the direction of certain trials with government officials or giving advice on politically sensitive trials, should be subject to impeachment,” they said in a statement.

According to the Constitution, no judge shall be removed from office except by impeachment and a prison sentence ― a measure to secure the independence of the judiciary.