
Justice Moon Hyung-bae's humble life draws public admiration
Moon Hyung-bae, acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Korea, who read aloud the ruling upholding the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, has come into the public spotlight not only for his role in the historic ruling, but also for his life story, which recently resurfaced and resonated with many people.
Born into a family in a small farming village in Hadong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1965, Moon grew up in poverty. He graduated from Jinju Daea High School and earned his bachelor's degree in law from Seoul National University before passing the bar exam in 1986.
'I was the eldest son of a poor farmer. I only made it through middle school because I had relatives who handed down old uniforms and textbooks to me,' Moon recalled during his 2019 confirmation hearing before being appointed as a Constitutional Court justice.
A major turning point in his life came during his first year of high school, when he received a scholarship from Kim Jang-ha, a local traditional Korean medicine practitioner and philanthropist in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. This scholarship allowed him to continue his education through university.
Moon has often spoken of Kim's impact on his life, saying he could 'never have become a justice without him.' Kim, whose life story came to wider public attention through the 2023 MBC documentary 'A Man Who Heals the City,' is known to have devoted his earnings to the education and welfare of others. He has awarded scholarships to over 1,000 students — including Moon — and supported shelters for domestic violence survivors.
In South Korea, where public officials are frequently scrutinized for their wealth, Moon stands out. At his confirmation hearing in 2019, he disclosed that his total assets were 675 million won ($458,412), with his personal assets less than 400 million — significantly below the average for his peer judges, which at the time was 2 billion won.
'When I got married, I promised myself I would never stray from the life of an average person. I've recently realized my assets slightly exceed the national average of about 300 million won per household, and I'm genuinely sorry about that,' Moon told lawmakers.
Moon, also an active blogger who shares his thoughts via the platform Tistory on books he has read and cases he has covered, has posted over 1,500 posts reflecting on law, society and literature.
One of them reads: 'I know how easily poverty can upend a person's life," he wrote, adding that society should move toward reducing the impact poverty has on individuals.
Following the court's historic recent impeachment ruling, hundreds of comments flooded his blog, thanking him for his service and integrity.
While Moon is set to step down from the Constitutional Court on April 18 after completing his six-year term, he has already made clear that he has no plans to open a private law practice, but will remain committed to public service.
'Even after becoming a justice, I have never forgotten that my duty is to repay society for the support I received,' he said in 2019.
The 60-year-old justice's judicial career has been also defined by a blend of compassion and firmness.
While serving as the chief judge of Changwon District Court from 2004 to 2007, he oversaw criminal appeal and corruption cases that drew attention for their principled, human-centered rulings.
In one case in 2007, Moon presided over a man who attempted suicide by setting fire to a motel room due to credit card debt. Instead of a jail term, Moon sentenced him to probation and urged him to reconsider life's value.
'Say the world 'suicide' ("jasal" in Korean) 10 times. To us, what you just said sounds like 'let's live' ("salja" in Korean). Think again about why you must live,' Moon told him, giving him a book titled, '49 Things You Must Do While Alive.'
In contrast, Moon has been strict when it comes to corruption cases. During the 2006 local elections, he handed down tough penalties, saying that even the smallest bribery case should lead to the annulment of the election results. Citing 'Admonitions on Governing the People' (1820) by reformist philosopher, poet and scholar-official Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, Moon emphasized that 'integrity is the root of all virtue.'
When Moon presided over the historic ruling that removed Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, he read, 'By deploying the military and police to undermine the authority of the National Assembly and other constitutional institutions and violate the fundamental human rights of the people, the defendant failed in his duty to protect the Constitution and seriously betrayed the trust of the South Korean people, the sovereigns of the Republic of Korea.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
S. Korea proposes major shipbuilding investment in US ahead of tariff negotiation deadline
South Korea has proposed a multibillion-dollar shipbuilding investment package in the United States as part of ongoing negotiations to avert steep US tariffs as the Aug. 1 deadline for such a deal nears, government sources said Monday, noting the proposal appears to have been well received. According to the multiple sources, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan held talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday in New York, during which he presented the proposal, dubbed "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again". The MASGA project, whose name is inspired by US President Donald Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again", involves large-scale investments by South Korean private shipbuilders in the US The package includes not only capital investment but also financial support, such as loans and guarantees backed by Korean institutions. Public financial institutions, such as the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea, are being considered as potential participants in providing financial support for the MASGA initiative, the source said. Lutnick, who is seen as a key decision-maker in the bilateral tariff negotiations, reportedly responded positively to the proposal and expressed satisfaction with Seoul's offer. As part of the ongoing talks, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol is expected to visit the US later this week and is likely to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday. Seoul aims to finalize a trade agreement with Washington before the Aug. 1 deadline to reduce the 25 percent reciprocal tariff and sector-specific duties imposed on South Korean goods under the Trump administration. The reciprocal tariffs were initially implemented April 9 but were immediately suspended by President Trump for 90 days to allow for negotiations. The suspension has since been extended, but Washington indicated plans to resume enforcement starting Aug. 1 unless a deal is reached. (Yonhap)


Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
S. Korea vows to consistently take actions for peace after N. Korea rejects Lee's overture
The presidential office said Monday it will consistently take necessary actions to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea rejected President Lee Jae Myung's proposal to resume dialogue. Earlier in the day, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said North Korea is not interested in any policy or proposal from South Korea and will not sit down with Seoul for talks. The presidential office said it is "taking note of" Pyongyang's first official statement on inter-Korean affairs since Lee's inauguration in early June. "We have witnessed the high wall of distrust between the two Koreas due to years of hostility and confrontation," a senior presidential official said. "The government will consistently take necessary actions to ensure a Korean Peninsula without hostility and conflict, in line with the Lee Jae Myung administration's firm principle of establishing a state of peace where there is no need to fight," the official added. As part of efforts to repair strained ties with the North, the Lee administration has halted anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts along the border, urged activists to stop flying propaganda balloons to the North and repatriated North Korean fishermen who had drifted into southern waters months earlier. In late 2013, the North's leader Kim defined inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other," vowing not to seek reconciliation and unification with the South. (Yonhap)


Korea Herald
4 hours ago
- Korea Herald
NK leader's sister says not interested in any proposal from Seoul, won't sit down for dialogue
North Korea is not interested in any policy or proposal from South Korea and will not sit down with Seoul for talks, the powerful sister of state leader Kim Jong-un said Monday. Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling party's central committee, made the remarks in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to resume dialogue with Pyongyang to ease military tension and improve inter-Korean ties. It marks the North's first official statement on the Lee administration, which took office last month. "Looking at around the past 50 days since Lee Jae Myung took office ... (he) is no different from his predecessor in blindly adhering to the South Korea-US alliance and pursuing confrontation with us," Kim said. No matter how hard the Lee government tries to draw North Korea's attention, the North's stance toward the South will not change, she said. "I make it clear once again that we are not interested in any policy or proposal put forward by Seoul, and there will be no chance of us sitting down with South Korea for any discussions," she noted. Kim pointed to a proposal in South Korea to normalize its unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs, saying the ministry should be dissolved because the two Koreas are separate countries, and accused Seoul of being "possessed" by the specter of "unification by absorption." She also dismissed Seoul's recent suspension of spy agency-operated radio and television broadcasts targeting North Korea as something that "does not deserve any appreciation." "There would be no greater misunderstanding if South Korea expected to overturn the consequences of its own making with a few sentimental words now, after having declared (North Korea) its main enemy and pursued extreme confrontation in the last," Kim noted. She also referred to proposals in South Korea to invite Kim Jong-un to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju in October, calling them a "ridiculous delusion." (Yonhap)