President Yoon Suk Yeol's bright smile. [Photo=Yonhap News]

Although a spinal disc condition is taking its toll, I have no choice but to keep writing. Even in pain, one cannot help but smile. 

Heraclitus viewed the world with sadness, while Democritus viewed it with amusement. When looking at the world from afar, and with a broader perspective, one has no choice but to laugh. 

Let’s try laughing for once. Seeing the judge "slap" the President with a life sentence and the Defense Minister with 30 years, I thought, "Gosh, 30 years looks even longer than life." Haha, at our age, is 30 years really something easy to endure? 

“It was bold, resolute, and dignified.”

They say the President truly laughed upon hearing the verdict. He displayed a bright smile. A YouTuber who is struggling bravely against illness noted that after the "pusillanimous" judge delivered the sentence, the President smiled and spoke with his legal team. They said it was "bold, resolute, and dignified." 

Indeed. At first, it was stunning, then it brought a hollow laugh, and then it became truly "amusing." I was able to laugh brightly for a moment. That was the "impression" captured on the faces of those watching the sentencing, those who keep their hopes in the future. 

A bright smile appeared on President Yoon Suk Yeol's face after the life sentence was handed down on the 19th. [Photo=Seoul Central District Court video capture]

Up until this final verdict, there was still a slim reason to have expectations of the judge. After all, he had once ordered the President's release. Now the judgment is made. He, too, has become one of those unfortunate "fellows" who jumped off the path toward the "Land of the Lord" sought by the patriot Danjae. 

It is regrettable. It is bitter. One can only imagine how great his dilemma must have been. Hadn't there been a massive uproar over which bars he frequented? How many people had attacked him, demanding he be replaced? 

The position must have tormented him so. Why, of all people, was he burdened with such a cruel fate? He was burdened with a weight so heavy that he could not help but become "pusillanimous." 

Let us try to interpret his actions favorably once more. They say he held about 160 trials and brought forth 160 witnesses. In doing so, he "dragged out" the trial. And through that, several positive things occurred for those who seek the truth. 

First, in the meantime, it was revealed that international forces were deeply involved in the fraudulent election network during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. It has been revealed that South Korea’s National Election Commission and A-WEB were deeply complicit. 

Fakes obscuring the truth 

Next, as the trial dragged on and all sorts of arguments were exchanged, this process could be broadcast. It was revealed to the public that the "earthworm memo" of the National Intelligence Service official was a fake. 

The scene where a Special Forces commander’s "Drag the agent out" was corrected to a whispered "Drag the lawmaker out" by a member of the National Assembly was also shared on YouTube. 

Listening to a transcript recently, it seems that before the YouTube filming, they were squabbling and arguing over how they should speak. If this is true, whose insurrection is it really? 

Furthermore, a large segment of the younger generation has awakened. The year or so that the trial lasted was not insufficient for the youth to gain a deeper understanding of the country's situation. The trend of public opinion among the younger generation has completely reversed, and fake polling agencies are nervous trying to cover it up. 

Finally, just before the sentencing, the term "enchufados" flowed through YouTube channels like an electric current. 

Meaning "people plugged into sockets," those secretly connected to unjust power, those who pretend to criticize while secretly cooperating and colluding, those who act as the opposition but are actually intelligent collaborators trying to keep the people trapped in an unjust power system like fish in a net—people who couldn't solve the mystery of the "People Power Party" slapped their knees and thought, "So that's it," and were able to firm up their resolve. 

If a single judge has allowed so many big things to be accomplished, shouldn't we at least commend his hard work? 

Even if you got carried away writing the verdict 

However, the worst thing he did while reading the verdict was that a mere judge dared to use distorted logic to gloss over the situation and actually brought up the Bible. 

"One cannot steal a candlelight just because they read the Bible." He really should not have written this. I am not a Christian. One must not recklessly invoke something that everyone considers sacred just to cover up the deeds of worldly men. 

How do the Bible and candlesticks appear in great works? We know Victor Hugo's 'Les Misérables.' Bishop Myriel warmly welcomes Jean Valjean, who had to serve 19 years in prison for stealing bread. 

That night, Jean Valjean steals Bishop Myriel's silver cutlery and flees. When the police bring Valjean back, the Bishop asks him, "Why didn't you take the silver candlesticks I gave you?" In doing so, he saves Valjean from the hands of the police and instead leads his soul to a higher plane. 

Inspector Javert pursues this Valjean with great persistence, intending to hold him accountable. His persistent pursuit collapses before the "mercy" of the man whose life he had saved. Javert’s value system of legal omnipotence, which strictly divides good from evil, finally collapses, and he throws himself into the river to commit suicide. 

How did the judge bring the Bible and the candle into this? Even if he was carried away while writing the verdict, he shouldn't have gone that far. When you push forward thinking that even bad ideas are right, they start to look plausible, you justify yourself, and the "other side" inevitably looks like the villain. Just like those who enjoy branding others as "far-right" and feeling satisfied with themselves. 

Reflecting after the verdict, he did not acknowledge the President’s governing authority at all, he overturned his own previous "judgment" regarding the investigative authority of the CIO, and he did not properly examine the various pieces of evidence surrounding the arrest warrant. 

Yet, he cleverly acknowledged that the soldiers at the time were not actually armed with live ammunition. Live ammunition and firearms were the main arguments of those who foamed at the mouth, insisting that the President must be condemned. 

Also, he didn't dare sentence the President to death, but "slapped" him with life imprisonment, which made the President and us laugh in disbelief, while infuriating those who were prepared to foam at the mouth. 

However, it is truly fortunate. All these things we are encountering now are happening because the President is standing resolute, bold, and firmly smiling.

President Yoon Suk Yeol smiled even when the special prosecutor demanded the death penalty at the final trial on January 13. [Photo=Seoul Central District Court video capture]

Election fraud is an act of plundering sovereignty

I believe in the future of our Republic. A republic is a country where the people are the owners of the community. In this country, the members of this community govern and hold elections. 

Committing fraud in this election is a horrific crime that plunders the sovereignty of the people, who are members of the community. Unless this criminal act—this act akin to insurrection—is exposed to the world and condemned, such laughable verdicts will continue. 

It is sad and regrettable. But let us laugh. This "tedious" verdict really does have something comical about it. For those draped in curtains, the light comes unexpectedly. 

◆ Professor Bang Min-ho

Ph.D. in Literature, Professor of Korean Language and Literature at Seoul National University. He is the editor-in-chief of the quarterly literary magazine 'Maek' (since 2022) and is actively working as a poet, novelist, and literary critic. His books include 'Lover Sim Cheong' (2015), 'Language of Pain' (2019), 'Asking Again About Korean Criticism' (2021), and 'Seoul Literary Travels' (2024).