VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #0629/01 1070133
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170133Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4052
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5704
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1569
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1269
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 9571
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5796
RUEHUM/AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR 1805
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 3240
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUALSFJ/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA
RUACAAA/COMUSKOREA INTEL SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA SCJS SEOUL KOR
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP//

UNCLAS SEOUL 000629 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
H PASS TO CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS 
IIP/S FOR P. DENIG, R. TRIPP, J. JASIK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KS KN
SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT PRESIDENT DISCUSSES 
INFLUENCES, EXCHANGES WITH AMBASSADOR 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 13 the Ambassador visited the 
Constitutional Court of Korea for a cordial courtesy call on 
President Lee Kang-kook, a tour of the "green" building 
(including its rooftop garden), and a roundtable discussion. 
President Lee said he looked forward to his May 13 visit to 
the United States and the U.S. Supreme Court, including a 
visit with Chief Justice John Roberts.  Lee expressed his 
desire for more judicial exchanges with the U.S. and more 
access to the U.S. Supreme Court, noting the increasing 
influence U.S.-educated lawyers were having on the Korean 
legal system.  Lee also discussed some of the judicial 
exchanges Korea had with other countries and the challenge of 
working with China.  The Ambassador also spoke at a 
roundtable at the Constitutional Court with about forty 
judges and staffers.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Constitutional Court of Korea (CCK) was 
established in 1988 by the Korean Constitution, promulgated 
just one year earlier.  The CCK is comprised of nine justices 
-- three are appointed by the President, three are elected by 
the National Assembly, and three are designated by the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court.  The justices serve six-year 
renewable terms.  With the CCK lies the power to determine 
the constitutionality of laws.  Currently pending before the 
CCK is a suit filed by the National Human Rights Commission 
of Korea questioning the constitutionality of current 
government efforts to downsize the Commission.  The CCK also 
presides over impeachment proceedings against certain 
high-ranking officials.  In 2004, the court ruled that, 
although then-President Roh Moo-hyun had violated election 
laws, these election law violations were insufficient grounds 
for his impeachment. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The CCK's jurisdiction is limited.  The court may 
hear cases concerning: the constitutionality of statues upon 
the request of the ordinary courts; dissolution of a 
political party; competence disputes between state agencies, 
between a state agency and a local government, or between 
local governments; and constitutional complaints filed 
directly to the court challenging a law.  The Constitutional 
Court does not rule on verdicts decided by the Korean Supreme 
Court.  If, however, the Supreme Court's verdict is based on 
acts or rules that the CCK finds to be unconstitutional, the 
Supreme Court's verdict is overturned.  This ability of the 
CCK to effectively overrule Supreme Court decisions has 
prompted some observers to question the overall structure of 
the Korean judicial system. 
 
---------------------------- 
German Model, U.S. Influence 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On April 13 the Ambassador met with Lee Kang-kook, 
President of the CCK.  Lee noted that the CCK was established 
in 1988 and celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.  The 
court was modeled on the German Constitutional Court and 
functioned similarly.  Lee said that 32 years ago he had 
studied in Germany; in those days Korean and Japanese 
students thought it was more appropriate to study law there. 
Now, Lee said, most lawyers and prosecutors would rather 
study in the United States than in Europe and were very 
familiar with U.S. legal cases and procedures.  Lee noted 
that this trend would have a profound impact on the Korean 
legal system and might necessitate changes in the court to 
make it more similar to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Lee and the 
Ambassador discussed recent press reporting on debate in the 
United States on the precedential value of foreign court 
decisions and the potential impact on legal thinking in U.S. 
jurisprudence. 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Lee said that Korean lawyers wanted to study in the 
U.S. because it was the only superpower, and Koreans wanted 
to learn from the United States. example so that Korea could 
itself become an advanced power.  Lee said he wished there 
was more interaction now between U.S. and Korean courts. 
(NOTE: The Department-coordinated U.S. Observation Program 
for the Korean Judiciary in 2008 brought over 30 judges to 
the United States.  END NOTE.)  Lee confirmed he was planning 
a trip to the U.S. on May 13 and hoped to meet with Chief 
Justice John G. Roberts. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Lee commented that there remained quite a bit of 
mystique surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court.  Noting that he 
had read "The Brethren," he wondered if the book accurately 
reflected the way the court worked.  Lee said that in both 
Germany and Korea the court worked very differently from the 
U.S., where a very aggressive dynamic in arguing cases 
prevailed.  Lee said this was something he looked forward to 
learning more about in his upcoming trip. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Korean Exchanges with Mongolia, China 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The Ambassador queried Lee about Korean judicial 
exchanges with other countries, particularly those where 
democracy is new or not yet developed.  She observed that 
Korea's status as a country that had democratized very 
recently and quickly gave it unique experience to share with 
developing countries.  Lee's staff noted that the Korean 
judiciary cooperated extensively with Mongolia, but had 
limited success in outreach to China.  Lee said that Chinese 
legal traditions were very different from the Western concept 
of rule of law.  If China wanted to become a real superpower, 
however, it would need to study and emulate the systems of 
the U.S., Japan, Germany, and the U.K.  The Ambassador 
encouraged Lee to continue Korea's judicial outreach efforts 
with China. 
STEPHENS