222. Korean crossbow

A mathematician shot a judge with a crossbow:

The 50-year-old former mathematics professor at Sungkyunkwan University shot Park Hong-woo, a 55-year-old Seoul High Court judge, in the stomach with a crossbow as payback for his loss of a legal dispute in an appellate court chaired by Park.

Kim was detained at the scene and the judge is recovering in hospital. His condition is not life-threatening, hospital officials said.

The attack took place in front of Park's apartment in Songpa-gu, southeastern Seoul. The crossbow bolt left a 2-centimeter wound across Park's stomach.

According to police, Kim denied attempting to kill the judge.

"I've taken all legal measures to prove how corrupt our judicial system is, and where judges ignore the law," Kim was quoted as saying by police.

Kim appealed a lawsuit in 2005, in which he demanded reinstatement of his professorship after asserting that he was unfairly dismissed in 1996. A Seoul lower court rejected his demand and Park also denied his appeal after reviewing the case on Friday.

The first reaction is to assume that Kim, like other thwarted mathematicians of note, was simply nuts.  (A crossbow?)   But listen to what court insiders told the Korean Herald's reporter:

The Supreme Court will reportedly focus on reestablishing the authority of the courts, believing the incident was brought on by disheartening issues last year, such as the constant dispute between prosecutors and judges over issuing warrants and a senior judge's involvement in a corruption case.

"We have to seek measures to rebuild our destroyed authority," a senior judge said on condition of anonymity.

"We could hold in-depth hearings in court and listen to the plaintiffs more, but fundamentally, establishing a trustworthy judiciary is the key."

The same theme was sounded by the Chosen Ilbo, which editorialized that the crossbow shooting reinforced an old lesson: "As always, the top ethical rule judicial officials must uphold is to live a life of moderation and abstinence rivaling that of a religious monk." 

I think it's always a mistake to assume that violent criminals commit their acts for reasons that make sense to anyone living outside their own heads.  And the idea that a bolt from a crossbow is an effective means of registering a complaint is probably not one that judges of any nation are well-advised to endorse.

But it's true that Koreans have had reason to regret their judiciary recently:

The fact is in this country, however, that a "court broker" has manipulated judges and prosecutors up to the vice ministerial level by meeting their desire for "money and booze.'' ...  It is said the "court broker" bribed up to 80 judges and prosecutors, influencing their judgments. In some extreme cases, the broker accompanied a suspect to the judge's office to negotiate the judgment.

The court broker in question is described here as a "a well-known judicial lobbyist".  (I can think of some American lawyers who deserve that title.)  The Chief Justice apologized to the nation, assuming a penitent pose - literally - but most recently he himself has come under suspicion - possibly the result of malicious stories planted by a disgraced former judge. 

Prosecutors, meanwhile, anonymously told reporters that members of the Supreme Court "contacted about three or four senior officials at the prosecution regarding its investigation" into judicial bribery - presumably either to intimidate or to ask for special consideration - which the justices naturally deny.  For more about the ongoing war between prosecutors and judges, read this review of a satirical play.

A Korean Times commentary lamented that the regular recurrence of judicial scandals had "given rise to such sarcastic remarks as 'the rich are not guilty, the poor are guilty'".   But at least in Korea that observation is still considered sarcastic.  (See post 102.)