▲ Minister of the National Court Administration Park Young-jae (Yonhap)

judicial official-resignation

Head of Nat'l Court Administration offers to resign after parliament passes judicial reform bill

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- The head of the National Court Administration offered to resign Friday, a day after the National Assembly passed a controversial judicial reform bill that faced opposition from the judiciary, legal sources said.

Park Young-jae expressed his intent to resign to Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, after the ruling Democratic Party-controlled parliament passed the bill designed to establish a new criminal offense of "legal distortion," according to the sources.

The legislation, one of three judicial reform bills pushed by the ruling party, seeks to punish judges or prosecutors with a maximum prison term of 10 years if they intentionally distort legal principles or manipulate facts.

Park earlier called for the judiciary's opinions to be reflected in deliberations for the judicial reform bills.

The National Court Administration is responsible for the administrative affairs of the judiciary, including budget management.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]