[사회]The Supreme Court Chief’s’False Explained’ and the Chief Judge’s’Secret Recording’…The Day of Shame for the Judiciary

[앵커]

Yesterday, when the impeachment proceeding against an incumbent judge was made for the first time in the history of the constitution, there is a more noticeable transcript.

It’s about 1 minute and 30 seconds of conversation with the voice of Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo.

As the head of the judiciary’s false explanations were revealed, there was even a public apology.

Let’s go deeper by connecting reporters. Reporter Lee Jong-won!

It was an issue all day as the transcript was publicly released yesterday morning, but let’s start with the incident.

Isn’t it the beginning of a battle of truth surrounding the resignation of Senior Judge Im Seong-geun?

[기자]

The first related report came out two days ago.

In May of last year, Deputy Judge Im Seong-geun asked for the resignation to be accepted and met with Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo.

At that time, it was reported in some media that Supreme Court Chief Kim rejected his resignation because of the ongoing impeachment debate in the National Assembly.

Then the Supreme Court denied it.

It was true that there was an interview, but in the course of the conversation, he did not say that he was impeached, and he clarified that there was no fact that Chief Justice Kim was resigned.

Then, Judge Lim, through his attorney, issued a statement to refute this, and the truth battle began.

[앵커]

But as a result, the Supreme Court’s explanation turned out to be different from the truth.

In the end, did the Chief Justice even apologize?

[기자]

Yes, yesterday morning, Deputy Chief Judge Lim released a recording file containing the voice of Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo.

It is known that the two had a conversation for about 40 minutes, but it was released for about 1 minute and 30 seconds, and it is divided into 3 audio files.

Let’s listen to the main content first.

[김명수 / 대법원장 : 상황을 잘 보고, 더 툭 까놓고 얘기하면 지금 뭐 탄핵하자고 저렇게 설치고 있는데 내가 사표 수리했다고 하면 국회에서 무슨 얘기를 듣겠느냐 말이야, 그렇지? 그리고 게다가 임 부장 경우는 임기도 사실 얼마 안 남았고, 1심에서도 무죄를 받았잖아.]

I only heard part of it.

There is no need for further explanation.

He said it was impeachment, and he also personally said that it was difficult to accept the resignation because of the National Assembly.

Yesterday, Supreme Court Chief Kim, who was silently answering the reporters’ questions when he went to work yesterday, acknowledged the conversation and apologized after 4 hours of opening the file.

On the way home from work, we once again apologized for fostering. Let’s listen.

[김명수/대법원장 (어제) : 만난 지 9개월이나 가까이 지나 기억이 희미하였고 두 사람 사이에 적지 않은 대화를 나눴기 때문에 제대로 기억하지 못했습니다. 이유야 어쨌든 임성근 부장판사님과 실망을 드린 모든 분께 깊은 사과와 죄송하다는 말씀드립니다.]

[앵커]

There are various voices of criticism. What do you think is the most problematic to this reporter?

[기자]

I will not take a problem explaining that I did not remember well because it was a conversation 9 months ago.

Since there was no participant, there would have been no other way to confirm whether such a conversation had been made without actually remembering Chief Justice Kim.

However, as a result, the criticism of the chief justice officer lied is inevitable.

Moreover, the root of this incident is the’Judicial Nongdan’ incident.

It is the case of’Judiciary Nongdan’ that the legislative, administrative, judicial, mutual economy and balance collapsed, and black transactions were made in the meantime, and as a result, the independence of the judiciary was violated.

If you look at the public recordings, it can only be interpreted as self-admitted to the fact that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who took office after the incident, also saw the notice of political power.

It seems clear that it is difficult to avoid the criticism that the head of the judiciary, who should be the bastion of judicial independence, has undermined the value of the separation of powers.

[앵커]

But, don’t you think it’s easy to understand that you secretly recorded it while interviewing the Supreme Court?

[기자]

There is a side that is a bit hidden from the Supreme Court’s false explanation,

However, the part you said is also a part to be pointed out.

Deputy Judge Lim Seong-geun is a high-ranking judge who served as the Chief Judge of the High Court, who was treated as a vice minister in the past, following the Chief Judge of the Seoul Central District Court, the largest court in Korea.

It was recorded secretly by such a person while interviewing for 40 minutes with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Even in private meetings, recording conversations without knowing the other person is not common in our daily lives.

For this reason, some point out whether the recording was made with intention in the first place.

In particular, about nine months after the interview, there are suspicions that there is another background that disclosed it just before the passage of the impeachment lawsuit.

First of all, I had blocked contact with reporters, and only responded that I recorded it as part of a’memo’ through a lawyer.

[앵커]

Also, was it appropriate to reject Judge Lim Seong-geun’s resignation, and opinions on this part also differ?

[기자]

The Supreme Court’s regulations state that when disciplinary action has been requested or is being investigated or audited, the dismissal of the council, so you cannot resign because you want.

However, there is a clue that if an arrest warrant is requested or prosecuted, it is allowed if it is judged that maintaining the position of judge harms public trust.

Judge Lim had already been disciplined and prosecuted, and the trial was in progress.

After all, it’s a matter of the discretion of the Chief Justice, who is the decision maker.

Some opinions say that they should respect their intentions because they were convicted in the first trial, and some oppose that it could be seen as’covering my family’ because of similar cases by the prosecution.

[앵커]

Lastly, let’s look at the prospect of the Constitutional Impeachment Judgment.

Could this incident have an impact on the impeachment trial for manager Seong-geun Lim?

[기자]

Deputy Judge Im Seong-geun heard about the reason for the release of this transcript,’the people’s right to know’.

However, it is also read as a strategy of its own in preparation for other intentions and impeachment judgment.

It’s to highlight that the resignation was rejected for political reasons.

It seems that the intention was to emphasize that basic rights were violated due to political reasons, since there would be no prosecution for impeachment if they had retired from the position of judge earlier.

Deputy Judge Im will retire at the end of this month, and this is part of the prospect and context that if the constitutional decision is postponed, a dismissal decision may be made without a judgment on whether to impeach.

As soon as the case referee is decided and the hearing is expected to begin in earnest, it seems that it remains to be seen how it will affect the constitutional judgment.

This is YTN Jongwon Lee from the Supreme Court.

※’Your report becomes news’ YTN is waiting for your valuable report.
[카카오톡] Search YTN to add a channel [전화] 02-398-8585 [메일] [email protected] [온라인 제보] www.ytn.co.kr