Chung must bow to court’s ruling

A faction of leftist politicians and citizens’ disobedience and attacks against the Supreme Court’s ruling - which upheld the conviction of former Democratic Party Representative Chung Bong-ju - set alarm bells off across the country. Chung was sentenced to a year in prison by a lower court on charges of propagating rumors about then-presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak’s alleged BBK financial scam of illegal stock-price rigging. The latest decision by our highest court directly translates into a clear vindication of the two lower courts’ verdicts.

In a society where the judiciary branch is obliged to “execute” laws made by the legislature, Chung and his supporters defying the sacred judgment by the Supreme Court amounts to a contempt for justice.

The group has even ran a brazen advertisement advocating Chung’s innocence in a newspaper ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling, calling for a “wise decision.” They bet on a possibility that Chung would be found not guilty in cyberspace, while staging protests to demand his acquittal in an effort to put pressure on the justices.

Immediately after the highest court upheld the verdict, a radical netizen group also launched a series of Twitter attacks against the court along with far-left politicians and celebrities, including popular novelist Gong Ji-young, who wrote, “The ruling rings the knell of the judiciary,” and Democratic Unity Party lawmaker Chung Dong-young, who posted a threat on his Twitter page saying, “The day will come when the court must apologize for what it did.” Actor-turned-activist Moon Sung-keun challenged the decision by saying, “So the court wants a fight with us citizens!”

We are dumbfounded by their colossal negation of the court’s legitimate execution of justice. Chung has emerged as a critical “issue maker” after having appeared in the popular online talk show “Naneun Ggomsuda,” or “I’m a Petty-Minded Creep,” since he was found guilty in the lower court.

Social leaders’ expression of their personal views regarding the trial of a famous politician will most likely spread a distrust of the law among ordinary citizens. A lawless world cannot avoid a serious social crisis. Some members of the opposition camp declared they will clear all those suspicions surrounding the BBK scandal. Yet it must be done within legal boundaries. If Chung wants to be a real opinion leader, he must respect the court’s decision before it’s too late.