Prosecution requests arrest warrant for ex-top court chief

By Kang Seung-woo

The prosecution sought an arrest warrant for former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, Friday, over a massive judiciary power abuse scandal.

Yang Sung-tae

Yang, who headed the top court from 2011 to 2017, is facing allegations of using high-profile trials as bargaining chips in dealings with the Park Geun-hye administration for the establishment of a new court of appeals.

The arrest warrant request came one week after the 70-year-old became the first former top court chief in history to face a prosecution questioning as a criminal suspect, Jan. 4. He had two more interrogations on Monday and Tuesday.

He faces 40 different charges of abuse of power during his tenure, including the delay of a court ruling on forced wartime laborers' compensation suits against Japanese firms and unfair treatment against judges on a “blacklist” with differing political views, among others.

In addition, he is also accused of his alleged interference in dissolution of the leftist Unified Progressive Party, the top court's illegal collection of secret documents of the Constitutional Court and the attempt to cover up a former senior judge's corruption.

However, Yang has categorically denied the allegations. Appearing for the first prosecution questioning, he defended the court system and officials, calling on the public to watch the probe “without bias or prejudice.”