San Francisco Frontiers - Top South Korean judge faces disinformation deluge as Yoon impeachment looms

South Korea's Constitutional Court has for weeks deliberated on whether to uphold a parliamentary vote to remove Yoon from office over his failed December bid to impose martial law in the country.

Leading the often-tense proceedings has been Moon Hyung-bae, the court's soft-spoken, liberal-leaning interim head, appointed to the bench in 2019 by then-president Moon Jae-in.

With legal experts widely expecting the court to remove Yoon from office next month, his conservative party and allies have launched a deluge of false and defamatory claims against judge Moon.

"The purpose of such attacks is very clear -- they are attempts to undercut the legitimacy of the impeachment decision," said Lee Jong-soo, a law professor at Seoul's Yonsei University, who said the impeachment was an "inevitability".

Among the most damaging disinformation were claims, debunked by AFP, of Moon's involvement in sharing child pornography online.

Internet users shared what appeared to be a comment left by Moon on a post containing a sexually graphic image depicting a minor.

Yoon's ruling People Power Party (PPP) amplified the false claim, demanding the judge's resignation and condemning him for "consuming" pornography.

The party was later forced to retract its allegation and apologise -- but only after it was revealed the post was created by attaching a graphic image to an unrelated comment posted by Moon to a forum for high school classmates.

That has not stopped Yoon supporters from holding signs that say "Porn judge Moon Hyung-bae" outside the president's impeachment hearings.

The fabricated post bred even more disinformation -- AFP also debunked a faked news report purportedly showing opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung brushing off the porn allegations as "a sign he is healthy".

The broadcaster to which the report was attributed told AFP it was "typical fake news", adding that it was considering legal action against its propagators.

- 'Communist' claims -

Those claims, while the most extreme, are far from the only false reports circulating about Moon and his fellow liberal judges.

Users have also shared images showing Moon delivering a speech in front of a Chinese flag -- ostensibly proof of his allegiance to "communist" Beijing, which some Yoon supporters claim has meddled in South Korean elections.

However, the image was doctored. AFP found the flag had been altered from a South Korean one.

Others have shared a post by Elon Musk on his social media platform X condemning a "corrupt judge protecting corruption", falsely alleging it referred to Moon.

And Kwon Seong-dong -- one of the ruling party's most senior officials -- spread false claims alleging close ties between Moon and the opposition leader, even alleging the judge had attended the funeral of Lee's mother.

When the court denied this claim, Kwon did not apologise, instead responding that he "must have heard wrong".

With the impeachment decision looming and many legal experts expecting Yoon to be formally removed from office, analysts say the goal of the disinformation is to undermine South Korea's institutions.

- Pulled to the right -

Bai Byoung-inn, a politics professor at Kookmin University, linked the campaign against the liberal judges to the possible upcoming elections, which must take place 60 days after Yoon is formally removed from office.

"In a way, the PPP's goal is to wage a war of opinions so as to delay the trial as long as possible," he said.

But he said "these attacks seem to have gotten out of hand" because of the increased extremism of Yoon's supporters.

"The result is that the country's ruling party has been pulled violently to the right, unable to distance themselves from Yoon's unconstitutional actions," he told AFP.

Judge Moon has not taken legal action against those spreading disinformation about him, even though libel can be a criminal offence under Korea's defamation laws.

The court has also declined to comment on most of the individual claims but has firmly rejected accusations that its justices' personal leanings will influence the verdict.

"This judgment is made by objectively applying the Constitution and laws, not through the individual tendencies of the justices," a court spokesperson said last month.

"Some politicians and media are distorting the nature of the impeachment trial, and we express concern about how this may damage the judiciary's authority."

A.Smith--SFF