Cheon Dae-yeob: “Judicial reform prepared for 2025 was regrettably disrupted by the illegal martial law crisis”

[Financial News] Cheon Dae-yeob, who is completing his two-year term as Minister of the National Court Administration, said at his farewell ceremony, “I hope that the newly formed National Court Administration will, through close communication with the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and others, serve as a catalyst for judicial reform.”
At the farewell ceremony held on the 15th at the Supreme Court of Korea’s National Court Administration, Cheon stated that judicial reform carried out without the participation of the Judiciary is not desirable, and emphasized that judicial reform must be pursued from the perspective of the people.
Cheon said, “Areas of the judicial system in urgent need of reform include the search and seizure system, the detention system, the discovery system, the citizen participation trial system, the specialization of courts such as labor courts, the full disclosure of written judgments, measures to enhance the thoroughness and speed of fact-finding trials, and, based on these, improvements to the appellate structure.”
He added, “The calls for more thorough and expedited fact-finding trials are confirmed statistically, and they are strongly demanded by parties to litigation, attorneys, and other stakeholders on the ground.”
He also shared his thoughts on the December 3 Martial Law Incident. “From my position as Minister of the National Court Administration, which does not preside over trials, I reflected the prevailing view within the Judiciary and, as the first constitutional institution other than the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea—and on multiple occasions—pointed out the unconstitutionality of the martial law,” he said.
He went on to say, “For 2025, we had prepared various institutional reforms aimed at dramatically improving citizens’ access to justice, but I deeply regret that these improvement efforts were nullified by the illegal martial law crisis that occurred at the end of 2024.”

hwlee@fnnews.com Lee Hwan-joo Reporter