The final bastion of democracy

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The final bastion of democracy

Published: 15 May. 2025, 00:01

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Chin Jung-kwon

The author is a professor at Kwangwoon University.

There are two ways democracy can die. One is from the outside, as seen in Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration — a direct attack on the rule of law itself. The other is from within, as the Democratic Party (DP) routinely demonstrates: dismantling constitutional principles under the guise of legality.

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

The first is a relic of the past or of developing nations. Today’s democratic crises, including those discussed in the 2018 book "How Democracies Die," emerge overwhelmingly through the second method: democratic erosion from within.

Yoon’s martial law decree dragged Korea back to the era of military dictatorship and left its political reputation comparable to Myanmar’s. The nomination of Kim Moon-soo as the PPP's presidential candidate shows that, at least within some political circles, the state of emergency never truly ended.

But the more realistic threat lies elsewhere. The DP-led 190-seat liberal supermajority has destroyed legislative balance. With a flood of unilateral legislation and weaponized impeachments, even the so-called imperial presidency has been neutralized. The very idea of institutional checks and balances is being rendered meaningless.

Should the opposition take power in the upcoming election, the president’s veto will become meaningless. Legislative abuse will continue unchecked, and the last safeguard against political excess will vanish. Yet they already call this “efficiency.” That efficiency, however, masks the fragility of Korea’s democratic infrastructure, which depends not just on electoral legitimacy but also on mutual respect among institutions.

Justices sit at the Supreme Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on May 1. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

After taking control of both the legislature and executive, the judiciary is the final institution left standing. The attacks began with the prosecution, a quasi-judicial agency, reducing the state’s investigative capacity to chaos — just look at the jurisdictional confusion surrounding the sedition investigation. Instead of strengthening accountability, reforms have only opened the door to legal uncertainty.

Due to prosecutorial reforms, the average time to process criminal cases has jumped from 313 to 484 days. In attempting to shield DP elites from investigation, lawmakers have only deepened the suffering of everyday victims. This is a profound failure in public service.

Lee Jae-myung has pledged to introduce a “prosecutor dismissal system,” not just stripping them of investigative powers but also prosecutorial authority. Under such a regime, a prosecutor who indicts a Democratic politician could be removed without cause. It risks creating a system where legal accountability is subordinate to partisan interest.

But it doesn’t end there. If a brave prosecutor proceeds with an indictment, DP Rep. Kim Yong-min’s proposed “judicial distortion punishment act” would allow the punishment of judges for so-called legal distortion. In other words, judges who convict liberal politicians would face criminal charges. The principle of judicial independence, already under strain, would collapse under the weight of political retribution.

Still not enough? Suppose a judge rules for a conviction anyway. The law itself can simply be rewritten. A recent amendment to the election law — effectively an amnesty bill for Lee Jae-myung — passed the parliamentary Judiciary Committee. By rewriting the rules mid-game, the DP signals its willingness to subordinate the legal order to political expediency.

Since the Supreme Court remanded Lee’s case, the DP has escalated its attacks on the judiciary to a near-frenzied level. Rather than reflect on a 10-to-2 ruling against their candidate, they chose to vilify the court. This inversion of justice is quickly becoming Korea’s new normal. The idea that courts can only be right when they favor one side is a dangerous and authoritarian impulse.

Even while writing this, the DP introduced three alarming bills: a special investigation into Chief Justice Jo Hee-de for election interference, an amendment to expand the number of Supreme Court justices to 30, and a bill to make Supreme Court decisions subject to constitutional appeals. Each of these represents a significant threat to the rule of law.

They want the head of the judiciary investigated for a verdict rendered by a 12-member en banc ruling. And by expanding the court, they hope to pack it with politically aligned judges. Should unfavorable verdicts still arise, they would take cases to the Constitutional Court, essentially creating a fourth level of trial. Apparently, they believe the Constitutional Court is easier to control. This represents a concerted campaign to erode judicial integrity.

Some are even abandoning the principle of separation of powers altogether. Park Jin-young, former deputy head of the Democratic Research Institute, said, “Perhaps the era of separation of powers has ended. Maybe it's time to think faster than the West about whether the people should become the judiciary.” These remarks, once unthinkable in a constitutional democracy, are now floated without consequence.

Meanwhile, the National Judges Conference has been convened — based on the bizarre claim that the Supreme Court’s expedited ruling on Lee Jae-myung was politically motivated. Could the 26 judges who requested the meeting soon be appointed to the expanded court? If so, the internal corrosion of judicial independence will be complete.

The Supreme Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul [YONHAP]

That this meeting is even happening is a sign of internal erosion in the judiciary. Judicial independence must not only be defended from political pressure outside the courts but also from within.

The judiciary, grounded in reason, fairness, and common sense, is democracy's final bastion. Governments come and go, but a shattered legal system is nearly impossible to rebuild. Without independent courts, there is no accountability, no fairness, no rule of law. Amid this political frenzy, the judiciary must remain the last shared guardian of democracy. To preserve our institutions is not to favor one side, but to protect the future of democratic governance itself.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.