The two swords of Korean judges

Damocles was a vassal to Dionysius, the king of Sirakusa, a city-state on the Greek island of Sicily. He deeply envied the king`s ability to wield power, so the latter bestowed on Damocles the throne for a day. Deeply excited, Damocles sat on the throne. A wide variety of sumptuous foods were placed before him, but when he looked up, he spotted a sword hanging on a single strand of hair over him. This caused his face turned to pale. This story describes how uncertain and painful a person in power can feel about his stature (excerpts from “Damocles’ Sword,” a novel by Jeong Chan).

In an appointment ceremony for newly appointed judges Monday, Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae said, “If a judge has a sword, he or she would only have Damocles’ Sword.” If a judge makes even a minor mistake, the sword can fall on him or her. That`s why Yang thus urged new judges to carry out their duties with thorough commitment. National leaders and politicians can be more persuasive if they properly use metaphors from classical literature that hit the mark.

Originally, judges possessed Dike or Justitia’s Sword, not Damocles’ Sword. The Greek words “dike” and "justitia” both refer to justice in English. The original statue of justice, blindfolded, holds a sword in her right hand and a scale in her left hand. This means that judges are expected to make fair ruling like the scale, and decisively execute like the sword rather than being swayed. Oddly, the statue of justice in the Supreme Court`s lobby in Seoul is not blindfolded and holds a scale in her right hand, but code in her left hand. It is okay to carefully read the book of code without being blindfolded, but certain judges seem busy playing with social network services, including Facebook, Twitter and Podcast.

Mentioning Damocles’ Sword, Chief Justice Yang apparently recalled judges who disregard judicial neutrality, freely expressed their personal political beliefs without reservation, and degraded the dignity of judges by using cheap language that hoodlums would use. A saying by the Chinese thinker Zengzi reads, “What comes out of you will return to you.” Judges have two swords. They must keep in mind that if they use Dike’s sword badly while assured of their job security, they could be stabbed with Damocles’ Sword.

Editorial Writer Song Pyeong-in (pisong@donga.com)