Constitutional Court Rejects Retrial for Journalists Fired Under Yushin Regime

In a deeply disappointing turn of events, the Constitutional Court has dismissed the retrial petition filed by journalists who were unjustly dismissed 50 years ago for their courageous stand against the authoritarian Yushin regime. The Dong-A Free Press Committee (Dong-A Tuwi) journalists, who were fired for refusing to participate in the regime's media manipulation, sought to have the Supreme Court's 1978 ruling, which validated their dismissals, overturned. However, the Constitutional Court's decision to dismiss the case, citing the petition's failure to meet the filing deadline, effectively closes the door on a crucial opportunity to correct a historical wrong.

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We are very disappointed that the case was dismissed without a substantive ruling on the violation of basic rights. It is regrettable that the opportunity to correct the shameful history of the judiciary, which collaborated with the dictatorship, has been lost.

This ruling is particularly galling because it prevents a substantive review of the case. The lawyers representing the Dong-A Tuwi journalists argued for a broader interpretation of the retrial system, pointing to precedents where filing periods were calculated from the court's establishment rather than the actual event date. They also contended that the delay in filing was due to the absence of such a system at the time, constituting a "justifiable reason." Yet, the Constitutional Court has chosen a rigid adherence to procedural technicalities over a substantive examination of fundamental rights violations.

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The Constitutional Court did not accept this logic and did not provide reasons for rejecting the plaintiff's claim of 'justifiable reason.'

As reported by The Hankyoreh, the journalists were ousted for their peaceful protest against the Yushin regime's press censorship and suppression. Even though lower courts acknowledged the illegitimacy of the grounds for dismissal and the journalists' fight for press freedom, they upheld the sackings, citing the company's precarious situation. While a Truth and Reconciliation Commission later confirmed these dismissals were a result of state-sponsored media oppression, the courts have consistently failed to rectify the original verdicts. This latest dismissal by the Constitutional Court signifies a missed chance to confront and rectify the judiciary's complicity in past human rights abuses, leaving a stain on the history of South Korean justice.

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The Yushin regime's courts, while acknowledging that the employment rules used as grounds for dismissal were invalid and that the journalists were acting for freedom of the press, still upheld the dismissals, stating it was a situation where 'the company's safety and survival were at stake.'