The Committee for the Livelihood of Ordinary People, the Lawyers for Ordinary People, and Bulssosigae held a press conference in front of the Supreme Court on the 4th, calling for the withdrawal of the "Three Judicial Reform Acts." [Photo=Yonhap News]

On the 4th, the Committee for the Livelihood of Ordinary People (CLOP), the Lawyers for Ordinary People (LAP), and the group Bulssosigae held a joint press conference in front of the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, demanding the withdrawal of the "Three Judicial Reform Acts" (the Law on Judicial Distortion, the Judicial Review Petition System, and the Expansion of Supreme Court Justices).

In their statement, the groups declared, “The Three Judicial Reform Acts are evil laws that ignore both the judiciary and public sentiment. We want a Republic of Korea that adheres to the rule of law and principles; therefore, we cannot tolerate the unfortunate reality of the judiciary losing its focus and drifting away from public trust.”

Furthermore, Kim Soon-hwan, Secretary-General of the CLOP, argued, “The current chaos, including the appointment of Supreme Court Justices, is caused by the tyranny of the Democratic Party of Korea. Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who is working to prevent the collapse of the judiciary, must not resign.”

He further emphasized, “We must not forget that we had judges even when the Republic of Korea was in ruins, and that we have judges now who are helping to set the nation straight. One judge is worth more than 300 lawmakers. We must recognize the common-sense fact that the leadership of a nation governed by the rule of law rests with our judges. We must support our judges for this war to end. We must return to the mindset that the ultimate conclusion of the rule of law is a court ruling.”

These organizations plan to hold daily press conferences in front of the Supreme Court for five days starting from the 9th to demand a halt to these judicial reforms. They also intend to conduct a petition drive through an "I Love Judges" campaign to show support for Chief Justice Cho and the judiciary.

Below is the statement issued by the three civic groups.

To our respected 52 million citizens, Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, Supreme Court Justices, Chief Judges, and our 3,200 judges!

We stand here today to realize freedom, equality, and justice. Because we desire a Republic of Korea that follows the law and its principles—rather than one where the Constitution and laws are ignored and principles are disregarded—we cannot tolerate the regrettable reality of the judiciary losing its center and distancing itself from the trust of the people.

Thus, the Three Judicial Reform Acts (the Law on Judicial Distortion, the Judicial Review Petition System, and the Expansion of Supreme Court Justices) are evil laws that disregard the judiciary and public sentiment.

First, the "Law on Judicial Distortion"—proposed by the Democratic Party of Korea, who were angered by a guilty verdict that accepted the prosecution's argument of "Lee Jae-myung’s North Korea visit cost payment" despite former Gyeonggi Peace Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young’s claims of "coerced testimony"—seeks to punish judges or prosecutors for perceived unjust indictments or rulings. By punishing judges, prosecutors, and investigative officials with up to 10 years in prison for distorting the application of the law or fabricating evidence, this system threatens judicial independence, introduces ambiguity in the criteria for "distortion," undermines the finality and stability of legal judgments, and paralyzes trials through defensive rulings caused by psychological pressure. It also risks an imbalance of power that empowers the prosecution, leads to administrative waste due to retaliatory lawsuits, and results in unfair and irrational investigative outcomes due to a lack of investigative personnel, given the current burden of over 600,000 complaints and 1.5 million accusations.

Second, the Judicial Review Petition system, which allows the Constitutional Court to re-examine final Supreme Court rulings, is claimed to be a core element of judicial reform to strengthen independence and fairness. However, this is absurd, as the system could extend litigation periods by an average of 7 to 10 years, increasing economic burdens through higher attorney fees and filing costs. In particular, it essentially creates a four-tier trial system, raising concerns about declining judicial reliability and the infringement of fundamental rights alongside the Law on Judicial Distortion.

Third, the expansion of Supreme Court Justices—potentially creating an opportunity to neutralize 12 types of crimes and 5 types of trials—would allow a President to appoint 22 Supreme Court Justices, structuring the judiciary to "protect presidential power." This would destroy judicial independence, undermine the fairness of the law, and focus only on quantitative increases rather than the quality of trials. The false assumption that faster case processing is always better ignores the risk that lack of cooperation and communication among justices will diminish the actual quality of justice, further burdening the public and eroding legal trust.

We urge you again today: only balanced decisions based on the Constitution and the law, made with unwavering fairness and speed, are the path to setting the Republic of Korea right.

Kim Soon-hwan, Secretary-General of the Committee for the Livelihood of Ordinary People