Police to question judge over influence-peddling

Police are preparing to summon an incumbent judge to verify whether he pressured a prosecutor to indict a netizen who slandered his wife.

They have already conducted written questioning of two prosecutors. The case came to light when prosecutor Park Eun-jeong of Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office Bucheon Division claimed to her superiors last month that Judge Kim Jae-ho called her in 2006 and asked her to indict a blogger who posted a slew of articles criticizing Kim’s wife, Na Kyung-won. The blogger criticized Na for attending a Japanese Self-Defense Forces ceremony in 2004 and accused her of reaching favorable verdicts against descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators while she was a judge.

The netizen was slapped with a fine of 7 million won ($6,080).

“Kim called me one day and said, ‘There is a netizen whom my wife filed a complaint against. He must be a liberalist, a supporter of (then) President Roh Moo-hyun. I cannot take it. He posted ridiculous articles on the blog. If you would only indict him, I will take care of the rest here,’” she said in her report, which was leaked to a weekly magazine last week.

She wrote that when she had to handover the case to prosecutor Choi Young-woon because of maternity leave, she left a memo about Kim’s request. “I also called Kim and said his message was delivered to Choi,” she wrote.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency last Friday requested that Kim, who worked at the Seoul Western District Court at the time of the alleged incident, show up for questioning on Thursday. The investigators have sent written questions to Park and Choi and called in Ju Jin-woo, a weekly magazine reporter who first raised suspicions and quoted Park’s name on a popular podcast last October.

This is the first time for incumbent prosecutors and a judge to be the target of a police investigation.

“If their statements do not add up, we might hold talks among the people involved,” a police officer in charge of the case was quoted as saying to a local daily.

The police have vowed to conduct a thorough and fair probe into the scandal that could deal a major blow to not only the judiciary but the administration and the conservative party.

Na ran for Seoul mayoral for the ruling Saenuri Party and Ju’s revelation may have contributed to her failure, observers said. Na decided not to run for the general election because of the scandal.

National Police Agency Commissioner-General Cho Hyun-oh encouraged his organization to remain objective in the case.

“If you think you cannot handle the case because it is about prosecutors and judges, you should quit right now. Don’t take any excuse into consideration,” Cho reportedly told his subordinates last Thursday.

Whether Park’s claim can be verified is questionable since the other people involved in the case ― Kim, Na, Choi and Judge Kim Jeong-jung who convicted the netizen at a local court ― all deny or are keeping tightlipped about the allegations.

“Since the statute of limitation of five years is nearing ― it expires on April 28 ― Kim may be left unpunished even if they unveil the truth at last,” a police insider said.

By Bae Ji-sook baejisook@heraldcorp.com)