The Supreme Court dismissed the emergency appeal to correct a past court decision that acquitted the late Bak In-geun, director of Hyeongje Welfare Center, of aggravated illegal confinement. The Supreme Court described the incident at Hyeongje Welfare Center as “a violation of human dignity, which is the highest value pursued by the Constitution,” and expressed hopes for relief for the victims through the Committee on Past Affairs for Truth and Reconciliation.

On March 11, the four justices of Petty Bench 2 (Chief Justice Ahn Chul-sang) of the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the emergency appeal that former Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il requested against Bak. Only the prosecutor general can request the Supreme Court for an emergency appeal, when he discovers that a court ruling has violated the law after the ruling on the case has been finalized. Former Prosecutor General Moon accepted the recommendation by the committee on past cases in the Prosecution Service and submitted the emergency appeal in November 2018 and February 2019. The Prosecution Service believed that the instructions of the Ministry of the Interior, which were the grounds for acquitting Bak of aggravated illegal confinement, violated the Constitution and were invalid.

Previously, Bak stood on trial seven times from June 1987 until July 1989 for confining the people from Hyeongje Welfare Center in Busan and forcing them to work at a worksite in Ulju. In the end, the court only recognized the embezzlement charge against Bak, for pocketing the wages of these people.

The Supreme Court explained, “When the court acquitted Bak for aggravated illegal confinement at the time, the law that the court applied was not only the instructions of the Ministry of the Interior, which the prosecutor general questioned (in the emergency appeal), but also Article 20 of the Criminal Act on justifiable acts (which stipulates that actions in accordance with the law shall not be punishable),” and said, “The Ministry of the Interior instructions were (only) one of several facts, which were the premise for applying Criminal Act Article 20.” The court further argued, “Unlike the argument by the Prosecution Service, this cannot be seen as a wrong application of the law.” The Supreme Court went on to state, “The main purpose of the emergency appeal policy it not to provide relief to victims, but to correct errors in the interpretation of the law and maintain unity in the interpretation and application of the law.” In other words, the court dismissed the emergency appeal because there was no error in the legal interpretation at the time of the ruling.

However, the Supreme Court mentioned the second Committee on Past Affairs for Truth and Reconciliation, launched last year, and said, “We hope that appropriate government measures can heal the pain of the victims and realize social integration.” But the court did not mention the state responsibility in the human rights violation that occurred at Hyeongje Welfare Center.

Attorney Kim Yong-won, who exposed the existence of outside pressure as the prosecutor who investigated the Hyeongje Welfare Center case, spoke with the reporter over the phone and said, “The Supreme Court bought time and built their argument during the two years and four months since the emergency appeal was filed,” and added, “I believe it (the latest decision) was because of the tendency among judges, who don’t want to admit mistakes in past rulings, to want to be seen as collectively flawless.”

When the judges announced the decision, one victim who was in the audience shouted, “Your honor, I have a question,” and was taken out of the courtroom. “What happened at Hyeongje Welfare Center was a violation of basic rights, but the court ruling remains the same? The judges said the same thing 30 years ago.” “The state has abandoned us twice.” Angry voices exploded here and there.

Han Jong-seong, the representative of the surviving victims of Hyeongje Welfare Center said, “After the recent launch of the second committee on past affairs, Hyeongje Welfare Center was among the cases to be investigated,” and added, “The investigation into the truth of the Hyeongje Welfare Center case is just beginning.”