Ithanhee: "Lawyer-Politician? Freedom of Expression... Is Jin Joong-kwon Better Off Staying Quiet?"

Former Judge Itanhee [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] Former judge Itanhee, who joined the Democratic Party of Korea to run in the April 15 general election, revealed on the 20th that the reason he started politics was "because the judiciary has not changed even after the arrest of former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae."

On the morning of the same day, former Judge Itanhee appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "Former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae was arrested, but did the judiciary change because of that? Has the judicial corruption case been properly resolved? Most people say 'nothing has changed,'" he said.

He added, "The reason I resigned and resisted together with young judges within the court was to make trials more transparent and to reform the judicial system from the perspective of those receiving trials, but now that ideal has completely disappeared. However, if this is the responsibility given to me, can I just avoid it?"

Regarding former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon’s criticism on Facebook the day before, calling him a 'judge-politician' and accusing him of "trading public interest whistleblowing for a parliamentary seat," he said, "I believe people can express themselves freely."

He continued, "I think the actions I took as an internal whistleblower are recognized as very valuable. Otherwise, why would he have expressed it that way?"

He added, "But if someone who has done such valuable work remains silent, is that better? I hope we can think about that together."

Regarding the criticism of being a 'political judge' as those who raised the judicial corruption issue were mentioned as candidates for political recruitment, he explained, "If you look at the posts written by judges on anonymous boards inside the court, there are rather many supportive comments about me. However, I think there can be various opinions like 'political judge,' and I will continue to listen to such opinions."

Former Judge Itanhee emphasized, "If I become a member of the National Assembly, the biggest task will be 'impeachment of judges.' Judicial impeachment is necessary to close the judicial corruption case and move on to the next stage. Currently, judicial trust is at the bottom among OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries," adding, "Judicial trust should have increased after the judicial corruption case was revealed, but all the judges involved in that case are still in the court."

He continued, "Rather than spending time on individual cases, we need to design the system and look at the bigger picture. I consider one of my roles to ensure that prosecutorial reform goes in the right direction, and I promise to faithfully carry out that part in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.