Ruling party floor leader slams Chief Justice over controversial ruling

By Tony Chang

SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- The ruling party's floor leader on Wednesday demanded that the Supreme Court's chief justice take responsibility for what he called "left-leaning of judicial branch", citing a controversial court ruling acquitting an opposition lawmaker who stood trial for committing violent acts in parliament.

"Chief Justice Lee Yong-hoon should make public his position on the matter and
take responsibility for the left-leaning, unjust judiciary crisis," Ahn Sang-soo,
floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party, said at a meeting of the party's
special committee on judiciary reform.
Ahn was referring to the recent acquittal of Rep. Kang Ki-kab, head of the
progressive Democratic Labor Party, who was indicted for obstructing official
parliamentary duty while protesting a bill on the South Korea-U.S. free trade
agreement early last year.
The farmer-turned-legislator was accused of throwing furniture in the office of
the National Assembly speaker, assaulting parliamentary security guards and using
foul language in his protest. The court ruled he was merely venting steam and was
entitled to "protest" as a party leader. Prosecutors immediately appealed.
"The judicial branch should be the one that upholds the law but rather we have
reached an absurd situation here where the people are worried about the legal
system."
Ahn also noted that the court is unduly protecting the left-leaning activist and
his supporters, lamenting the "ideologically-biased" ruling of certain judges.
The floor leader also argued that small gatherings among judges based on
ideological leanings should be disbanded to ensure that courts maintain
impartiality and to prevent politicization of the legal system.
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