Oh Sehoon Warns Judicial Reform Will Make President Lee an Supra-constitutional Absolute Monarch

Criticism of the Democratic Party's three judicial reform bills
"An attempt to use judges as subordinates"
"President Lee will face no checks whatsoever"

Oh Sehoon, mayor of Seoul, said of the three “judicial reform bills” being pushed forward under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, “President Lee Jaemyung will become a super-constitutional absolute monarch who is subject to no checks whatsoever.” The three judicial reform bills refer to the crime of “distortion of the law,” the introduction of a retrial-type constitutional complaint system against court rulings, and the expansion of the number of Supreme Court justices.

On the 26th, Mayor Oh stated on Facebook, “The Democratic Party’s dangerous scenario of forcing the judiciary of the Republic of Korea to kneel before political power and using judges as henchmen of that power is being pushed ahead in a brazen manner.”

Oh Sehoon, mayor of Seoul, is being asked a question at the press corps New Year's meeting held at Seoul City Hall on the 10th. Yonhap News

He particularly pointed out that “under the vague concept of ‘distortion of the law,’ they intend to intimidate investigative agencies and the judiciary and shake their independence, in short, to tame the judiciary so that it suits the tastes of those in power.” He went on to say, “By increasing the number of Supreme Court justices, President Lee Jaemyung is thinking of overturning the decision at the Supreme Court even if a guilty verdict is finalized in a re-appeal.”

He continued, “Even if they fail to overturn the result at the Supreme Court as they wish, they intend to put in place a final safety device through a fourth-instance trial so that President Lee Jaemyung will not be sent to prison,” adding, “This is practically the same as saying that, going forward, the Democratic Party will be the one writing the judgments.”

Mayor Oh added, “Once the ‘three bills to seize control of the judiciary’ are completed, President Lee Jaemyung will become a super-constitutional absolute monarch who is subject to no checks whatsoever. The Democratic Party must immediately stop this frenzied runaway,” and continued, “If they do not stop this arrogant rampage of putting everything under the power of the Democratic Party, the only thing awaiting them in the end will be the stern judgment of the people.”

On this day, the National Assembly is putting to a vote in its plenary session one of the three major judicial reform bills, the “Distortion of the Law Act” (Criminal Act amendment). The core of the bill is a provision that, if judges, prosecutors, and others distort the law in connection with a case under trial or investigation, for the purpose of unlawfully or unjustly granting benefits to others or infringing on their rights and interests, they shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 10 years and suspension of qualifications for up to 10 years. The bill passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee under the leadership of the Democratic Party, but sparked a constitutional controversy. In response, the Democratic Party submitted a revised bill the previous day.

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