Absolute power and the crisis of separation of powers

Separation of powers and judicial independence are safeguards against absolute authority. Democracies worldwide work to protect them. History shows that once they collapse, the path to dictatorship opens.

Lee Sang-ryeol The author is a senior editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.

The Lee Jae Myung administration continues to benefit from what many have called the “predecessor effect.” Compared with a former president who illegally declared martial law, public sentiment tends to view almost any action as preferable.

Consider the appointment of lawyers who defended President Lee in his criminal cases. Several now occupy key posts in government. More striking was the nomination of a former law school peer with no diplomatic experience to serve as ambassador to the United Nations. At a time when the UN is the stage for competition between the United States and China and for debates shaped by U.S. President Donald Trump's ideology, the appointment drew serious concern in diplomatic circles.

President Lee Jae Myung answers questions during a town hall meeting titled “Listening to the Heart of Gangwon” at the Gangwon Creative Development Center in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on Sept. 12. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE PRESS CORPS]

Confirmation hearings have also lost their bite. For the prime minister and several ministers, hearings were conducted without a single witness. Once hailed as a pillar of Korean democracy, the hearings have become hollow rituals. Without meaningful scrutiny of senior officials, accountability weakens and transparency declines.

President Lee appears comfortable wielding near-absolute power. His warning about industrial accidents recently halted construction sites nationwide. After he criticized the reluctance of state pension funds to invest domestically, those funds began large-scale stock purchases the next day. He even remarked during a town hall in Chuncheon on Sept. 12, “I am now the most powerful person in Korea.”

Such power has begun to touch the foundation of democracy itself: the separation of powers. At his 100-day press conference, Lee stated, “There is a hierarchy of power in Korea. The highest power is the people, followed by directly elected power and appointed power.”

If the executive and legislative branches, both elected, are deemed superior to the judiciary, as his hierarchy implies, the separation of powers cannot function.

Moon Hyung-bae, former acting head of the Constitutional Court who presided over the ruling that removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, responded sharply: “Read the Constitution.” Article 40 grants legislative power to the National Assembly. Article 66 vests executive power in the president and government. Article 101 places judicial power in the courts. Nowhere does the Constitution assign hierarchy among the branches.

The judiciary exists to check the executive and legislature, as Moon noted. Even apart from constitutional text, logic dictates that hierarchy and checks and balances are irreconcilable. Once hierarchy is accepted, lower branches cannot restrain higher ones.

When governments and assemblies abandon democracy for authoritarianism, only the courts can apply the brakes. That is why autocrats, from Hugo Chávez in Venezuela to other 21st-century leaders, have sought to capture courts first, replacing judges unwilling to comply.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de enters an en banc session at the Supreme Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Sept. 18. [YONHAP]

The ongoing controversy over a proposed special tribunal for insurrection, already criticized as unconstitutional, has now been coupled with pressure from the Democratic Party on Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de to resign. To observers, the sequence appears orchestrated: raising suspicions under legislative immunity, demanding investigations and questioning fitness to serve, then attacking denials as too quick.

This pattern not only affects the chief justice. Judges across the country may hesitate when ruling on cases involving the president or governing party. The chilling effect is compounded by Lee’s declaration that “elected power is above appointed power.”

The separation of powers and judicial independence are safeguards against absolute authority. Democracies worldwide work to protect them. History shows that once they collapse, the path to dictatorship opens. Korea must not go down that path.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.