The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Judges face punishment for political comments

By Korea Herald

Published : Feb. 1, 2012 - 16:35

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Two judges who posted disparaging comments on social networking services about President Lee Myung-bak are facing disciplinary measures and possible dismissal.

Judge Seo Ki-ho of the Seoul Northern District Court has been included on the list of judges deemed unfit for reappointment. Seo caused controversy when he used derogatory expressions about the president.

He was reportedly informed through an e-mail that his performance record was too poor for him to continue serving as a judge.

Since 1988, judges have undergone a reappointment review every 10 years. However, only three judges have been found unfit for reappointment since then.

Regarding his inclusion in the list, Seo said he has not been unfit for his post in the past 10 years, and that he will face the review board and will not be resigning.

The review board will meet some time next week and decide whether Seo will be reappointed.

In addition, Judge Lee Jung-ryeol of Changwon District Court has been put up for review by the disciplinary committee for disclosing information about a case.

On Jan. 25, Lee posted the details of the settlement for former Sungkyunkwan University professor Kim Myung-ho reached in a civil suit on the courts’ internal online notice board, breaking clause 65 of the courts’ organizational regulations.

At the time Lee said that while he had intended to keep silent about the case, he felt that he needed to speak out as there were rumors that the ruling was affected by outside sources.

The Supreme Court will set the date for the disciplinary committee, and it will meet more than five days after Lee receives the summons.

In an earlier development, he was given a written warning for posting materials that disparaged the president on his Facebook account in December.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)