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The Truth and Reconciliation Committee has decided to reveal the names of the 492 judges who handled trials on violations of the 1970s emergency decrees. The commission is to reveal individual case records, including the names of the presiding judges. The list contains the names of about a dozen incumbent Supreme and Constitutional Court judges, as well as some 100 former justices. Already, the list has been leaked to a pro-government newspaper, presumably by someone inside the committee.
The emergency decrees were draconian regulations that empowered the Park Chung-hee government to arrest, detain and search citizens without warrants and made it legally possible to put them on trial in an emergency military court. It is the role of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to try to clear the names of the many Koreans who suffered under the laws.
But revealing the names of the judges who were involved is a different story. The judges are sure to be subjected to a barrage of criticism for having served as the tools of a dictatorship. There have been persistent calls by officials in the Roh administration to purge the judiciary. The judges who presided over those unfair trials probably had no choice, since they were public officials during that dark period. The decision by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission could deter judges from making any decisions that could get them in trouble later on.
If the only way to resolve the problem is by revealing names, then the hunt will expand to include the arresting police officers, intelligence agents, as well as Cabinet and presidential office members who were involved in passing the draconian regulation. In the end, the blame will go to 90 percent of the Korean public who supported the emergency decrees in a national referendum.
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