Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae closes his eyes while observing the heated exchanges between ruling and opposition lawmakers during the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee inspection on the 13th. Yonhap News.

There is an interesting scene in the grassland episode of the BBC-TV documentary 'Human Planet.' 'The tradition of intimidating the lions' is a work that well illustrates the role of courage in a confrontation between humans and lions. It has also been introduced in South Korea as a documentary.

According to the footage, hunters from Kenya's Dorobo tribe, in teams of about three, walk without hesitation towards a pride of lions that are eating after a hunt. Surprisingly, they carry no offensive weapons. They simply exert psychological pressure on the lions with their confident demeanor and coordinated movements.

The lions, feeling confusion and threat from these humans, eventually abandon their prey and retreat. The people then cut off a portion of the lions' food (mainly buffalo) and calmly leave the scene. An elder says, "We just need to move forward with confidence and without fear. It's a way for both lions and people to be happy without anyone getting hurt."

The judiciary, which shoulders one of the three branches of government, has been subjected to all sorts of ridicule and threats from self-proclaimed National Assembly members. This arrogant disregard for the public, as if to say 'throw the constitution to the dogs,' is primarily the responsibility of those belonging to the Democratic Party of Korea. However, the judiciary, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, is secondarily responsible.

It has been the convention for the Supreme Court Chief Justice, upon attending a National Assembly inspection, to deliver an opening statement and then leave the inspection hall. This is a tradition that respects the independence of the judiciary. However, Chairperson Choo Mi-ae of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee did not allow this. As a result, Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae had to remain at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee inspection on the 13th and endure the members' nonsensical attacks. During this process, one lawmaker presented a doctored photo comparing Chief Justice Cho to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and insulted him by calling him 'Cho Hideyoshi.'

This is the current state of our politics. Then why has South Korea deteriorated so severely? The cause is not far away. Ruling party lawmakers spread slander against Chief Justice Cho, claiming that the Supreme Court's decision to reverse and remand the case of President Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act was election interference. Everything starts here.

As soon as Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung announced his candidacy for president, the judiciary began to cower. The first hearing of the appeal for Lee's violation of the Public Official Election Act, originally scheduled for May 15th, was postponed to after the June 3rd presidential election. The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 33, which is hearing the case concerning allegations of special favors in the Daejang-dong development and other issues related to Lee, also announced that the hearing date would be postponed to June 24th, after the election. As expected, due to the court's sudden retreat, Lee's judicial risk before the presidential election instantly vanished.

What happened afterward? The left-wing forces, trembling in anticipation of the ruling, detected signs of the Supreme Court's fear. They then all rushed towards where the scent of blood was. The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee declared that it would hold a 'Hearing to Investigate the Truth of the Judiciary's Election Interference Allegations' targeting Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and the other justices. Civic groups, including the online media Seoul Voice, the Lawyers for Prosecutorial Reform, and the Institute for People's Livelihood Economy, also filed complaints with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) against Chief Justice Cho for abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights. The CIO has begun an investigation into the abuse of power allegations against Chief Justice Cho.

Ideally, the Supreme Court should have ruled on the violation of the Public Official Election Act directly. It should have delivered a just verdict swiftly without giving Lee Jae-myung an opportunity to counterattack. Reversing and remanding the case with a guilty verdict was no different from passing the decision to a high court. It is unclear whether the judiciary was naive or afraid. Regardless, the politician Lee Jae-myung is a type of person who achieves his goals by engulfing the country's sky with a cloud of threats and appeasement. Showing fear to such a person is equivalent to handing them an opportunity to bite. Showing your back to a wild beast is like signaling that it is okay to attack you.

Had the Supreme Court ruled directly, all the political chaos in the country would have been resolved at once, and it would have been evaluated as courageous and just law enforcement by the Supreme Court. It would have left behind a record of South Korea's democratic history, with the Supreme Court having resolved the nation's political crisis.

We are not asking the Supreme Court to go to Africa and confront lions. The laws that underpin a society governed by the rule of law are clearly alive, so the courts simply need to cite those laws accurately according to their conscience. Why are they cowering in fear, abandoning this prepared meal? It is because imagined fears are dominating them. Therefore, the Supreme Court passed the responsibility to the high court, and the high court, as we know, did 'that thing.' Lee Jae-myung and his power group, having grasped this loophole, would not miss such a golden opportunity. That was the collapse of the separation of powers that occurred in the National Assembly on the 13th.

Ultimately, it is the pitiable citizens who have suffered the most through all these processes. The citizens are now clearly realizing that neither the administrative officials, the National Assembly, nor the judiciary can protect them from a dictator. They have also witnessed anew how weak and cowardly those numerous social elites, who have occupied high positions and enjoyed all sorts of social benefits while proclaiming "Who am I?", truly are in the face of a dictator, contrary to their usual arrogance.

The citizens must now deeply realize that they cannot trust or rely on any of our social elites. In the end, it is up to each and every commoner to step forward. Nepal has clearly shown this.

Lee Shin-woo, Former Editorial Writer for The Munhwa Ilbo and Author of 'Election Fraud and Traitors'