Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jeong criticized Lee Kyun-yong, candidate for Supreme Court Chief Justice, for commuting the sentence of a criminal who raped, photographed, threatened to distribute, and stalked six times from 7 years to 3 years in prison, saying, “It makes my blood boil.”
Representative Shim Sang-jeong said at the confirmation hearing for Lee Kyun-yong, the Supreme Court Chief Justice candidate, on the 19th, “When the candidate was in the 8th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, he made many sex crime rulings. After analyzing 85 rulings at the time, 41% of the sentences were reduced, and the reason was that he reflected on the decision. It was his first offense. “He is young,” he said, adding, “This is the case where I have the most serious doubts about candidate Lee Kyun-yong’s qualifications to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.”
Rep. Shim Sang-jeong said, “The most important reason why our Republic of Korea has become a country where women are dangerous is because we force victims to act like victims, conduct investigations and punish them harshly,” and added, “In particular, the candidate’s handling of this case is 2020. It is 21 years from 2016. After the Gangnam Station murder incident in 2016, numerous women took to the streets and appealed for the creation of a safer society, and there was a worldwide MeToo movement, and since 2018, the political world has reflected greatly on this issue in relation to power-based sexual violence by high-ranking public officials. “20 was a time when all citizens were shocked, especially because of the N Room incident,” he pointed out.
Rep. Shim said, “During this period, sexual crimes were so lenient안전놀이터. This completely lacks gender sensitivity. It can only be seen at this level. At this time, the lower court imposed a sentence that reflected the public opinion of the time.”
Rep. Shim then introduced in detail a case where candidate Lee Gyun-yong received a reduced sentence for a sex crime. Rep. Sim Sang-jeong said, “In 2021, even if you rape the victim six times by threatening to reveal that you work at an entertainment establishment, secretly film your body, threaten to distribute it, stalk you, and commit such comprehensive sexual crimes, your sentence will be reduced from 7 years to 3 years, to 4 years. “The reason for this reduction is that we judged that the damage was recovered by compensating the victim by 50 million won. Candidate, do you think rape, hidden cameras, threats, and stalking can be compensated with 50 million won? In particular, Even though the heinousness of digital sex crimes was revealed to the world in the N-room incident, is it possible to commute the sentence to four years based on this logic? It makes my blood boil. From a woman’s perspective,” she raised her voice.
Candidate Gyun-Yong Lee responded, “As the Appellate Division, the Criminal Division, and the Trial Division, we carefully considered each other and came to a conclusion.” Rep. Sim Sang-jeong criticized, “So, since he only made mechanical legal judgments, he is unfit to be a candidate for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who is responsible for social justice.”
Candidate Lee said, “At the time, we thought we had chosen a relatively heavy sentence for sexual crimes.”
When Rep. Shim asked, “What do you think now?” Candidate Lee responded, “Even now, we said we would do it without shame at the time, but there may have been some aspects that did not meet the public’s expectations.”
Then Rep. Shim Sang-seong said, “You say you protect the weak? Don’t talk about the general public. From the perspective of women, there is a gap that is not only somewhat, but blood-raising.” “Just think, if a ruling is made, wouldn’t it be a huge step backwards and silence all the women of the Republic of Korea who cried out loud and cried out for me too?” he criticized.
Rep. Shim also asked, “A law is currently being submitted to the National Assembly. Do you agree with the law that judges rape based on consent based on the right to sexual self-determination?” Candidate Lee said, “I understand that that direction is a global trend right now, and I think we should go in that direction. That’s because the members of the National Assembly will have to ask the members of the National Assembly to see if the composition requirements are really necessary at this point in our society.” “I think they will make a decision based on the situation. I agree with many aspects of that direction,” he replied.
The video contains a question-and-answer session between Rep. Sim Sang-jeong and candidate Lee Kyun-yong.