BONG SANG PIL
THE LAWLESS LAWYER
THE LAWLESS LAWYER
CHA MOON SOOK
THE
ONLY JUSTICE-JUDGE
IN KI SEONG
It was not every day that one was invited to a judge’s chambers. Ha Jae Yi was invited by her idol, Judge Cha Moon Sook, to drop in for a visit at her private room. She must have felt quite privileged to have been able to get access to the sequestered place.
While waiting for the judge, she espied the framed magazine cover of 'Dames' on the display cabinet. The cover had an awe-ispiring statement about Judge Cha: She is the only Justice Judge in Ki Seong City.
The pertinent question is ‘Does it imply that there are Justice-Judges in other cities?’
 
It seemed that Judge Cha Moon Sook had previously rejected the nomination for what is presumed to be the Chief Justice. She was already a Justice-Judge. And, mind you, not any old Justice but a Judge-cum-Justice.
And, what did that mean? A Judge-cum-Justice. Was she a Justice, a member of the Supreme Court, the Highest Court in South Korea as well as the Presiding Judge of the Ki Seong District Court?
She must be on one hand, a Justice of one of the Petty Benches, and on the other, a Judge who could also preside over cases from the lower court, the Ki Seong District Court.
On reflection, it then became clear that, as a Justice, she had appellate jurisdiction over Ha Jae Yi’s previous battered wife-murder case.
The only Justice-Judge in Ki Seong. As a Justice, she was privileged as she was privy to confidential information which might be denied to the ordinary judges in Ki Seong.
Well, it was a great achievement for a woman but Judge Cha hadn’t shattered the glass ceiling or had refused to. If only she rose to be the Chief Justice.
When the honourable Justice came in, she requested the young suspended lawyer to help her take off her black judicial robes. Judge Cha commented that there were no other robes heavier than that of a judge’s. It carried a lot of responsibility.
Disrobing the Justice. Judge Cha Moon Sook's telling statement: ‘You pull it off better than anyone else!’
One compelling thought that one entertains is whether Ha Jae Yi would one day have a hand in disrobing the Judge-cum-Justice of Ki Seong - not only stripping her off her ceremonial vestments but also her power, authority and influence.
   
In the Ki Seong world of deception, there were many double-faced people who tended to say one thing but do another.
The inquisitive Judge Cha questioned her about Bong Sang Pil who was intent on wresting the murder case from the original lawyer, Go In Doo.
Ha Jae Yi found Bong Sang Pil to be intriguing but was worried about the murder case.
However, she was confident that justice would be done because Judge Cha was the Presiding Judge.
Something though bothered her. She puzzled over Wu Hyeong Man. Although the pool of evidence was not in his favour, she was convinced that the detective lacked a motive for the murder of the decedent. It seemed a mystery. Why would he murder the Mayor?
But Judge Cha argued that many murderers needed no motives. Psychopaths come to mind.
Ha Jae Yi responded that she couldn’t judge the accused without contact with him. Judge Cha agreed with her.
Ha had already met the accused in person but what she meant was she wanted to talk to him one to one.
The suspended lawyer was oblivious of the political intrigue in Ki Seong but soon she would be able to figure out the Justice’s role in the Mayor’s murder.
               
To celebrate Ha Jae Yi’s recent birthday, Judge Cha brought her
to a fashionable clothing store to choose a dress for her. The store had an
incredible collection of pricey clothing. The young lawyer looked gorgeous and
classy in the dress chosen for her.
  
It wasn’t surprising that the sly and experienced older woman had wormed her way into the affections and confidence of the younger woman.
Ha Jae Yi was persuaded to call her ‘Mother’. It was strange that the younger lawyer had called her ‘Mother’ when young.
   
Ha Jae Yi had expected Judge Cha Moon Sook to move to the Supreme Court in Seoul to serve as Chief Justice but the older woman had decided to serve with the local Ki Seong District Court instead.
If that was so, Judge Cha was not interested in looking after national judicial affairs. She would rather hold the post of Justice of one of the Petty Benches which heard cases from the lower court in Ki Seong.
 
The image that Judge Cha sought to project was she was unambitious; she was partial to local judicial affairs, not national ones.
She was sentimental about her birthplace as she born and raised there. She emphasized that she would stay there – from womb to tomb, from the cradle to the grave. She wished to impress upon Ha Jae Yi that she was a true daughter of Ki Seong, more of a local patriot than a national one. 
The younger woman thought it made sense as members of Judge Cha's family had served as judges in district courts.
But Judge Cha humbly confessed she could not be compared to her father who was a great judge.
  
And to Ha Jae Yi's shock, Judge Cha’s right-hand woman turned out to be
Nam Soon Ja. It should have set the alarm bells ringing. Think: Birds of a
feather.
     
When the woman suddenly appeared, Ha Jae Yi was reminded of a past incident. Nam Soon Ja was the mother of Kang Yeon Hee, the Public Prosecutor, who was working in Judge Cha’s court.
Judge Cha was sophisticated; she hid her evil well. But, her assistant was another creature altogether. Her evil aura floated around her.
        Nam Soon Ja still harboured hard feelings against her; she was going to get even. She took pleasure in dampening Ha Jae Yi’s confidence by contemptuously referring to her as ‘a common person’.    
A flashback enabled one to have an understanding of her mean nature and her sense of entitlement. She seemed to be from an affluent background, someone whom you call ‘a moneybags’.
Ha Jae Yi was the crème de la crème in high school and Kang Yeon Hee, Nam’s daughter, was her rival.
On one occasion, Nam Soon Ja had barged into their high school classroom and hit the male teacher for not awarding full marks to her daughter. The teacher was threatened and would be made responsible if Kang Yeon Hee failed to make the cut to the prestigious Seoul University, presumably, the university with the best law faculty in the country.
Ha Jae Yi stood up for him and reprimanded Madam Nam for her abrasive manners. Courage of her own convictions.
Does wealth lead certain people, like the filthy rich Madam Nam, to have a sense of entitlement?
Nam Soon Ja retaliated by lifting her arm to hit Ha. The feisty and courageous young girl stopped her and saved the day. But, Ha Jae Yi became a victim of Nam Soon Ja’s personal vendetta. Nam Soon Ja spat at her and told her that she would be blacklisted.                   
The Present. The presence of her daughter’s old rival excited the meanness in Nam Soon Ja. It was payback time for the suspended lawyer.
Ha Jae Yi shuddered at the older woman's tight hug. The gesture of warmth was unconvincing. Ha Jae Yi stifled her instinct to move away.  
Nam Soon Ja hugged her close and whispered into her ears about the failure of a dragon to rise from the pond.
It was in reference to the Korean tale ‘Dragon Fight’ in ‘Songs of Dragons Flying To Heaven’. The tale is about the power struggle between two dragon gods (yongsin) over a pond to qualify for heavenly ascension. There are many variations to the tale.
In one named ‘The Legend of Yongdang Pond’, the protagonist makes a mistake that results in his death and the victory of the opponent dragon.
Obviously, Nam was implying that Ha Jae Yi, the suspended lawyer, had failed to win the battle against her daughter, Kang Yeon Hee, the famous Public Prosecutor.
   
But, which older woman was more frightening: Judge Cha, a wolf in
sheep’s clothing or her righthand woman, a ferocious wolf?
Ha Jae Yi would soon learn that Kang Yeon Hee, the public prosecutor
and her mother worked hand in glove with Judge Cha Moon Sook.
Would it be too soon to say, ‘Like mother, like daughter’? Or
could one of them be a mole in the whole corrupt judicial world?
But, at that point in time, Hae Jae Yi seemed gullible and had
fallen under the spell of Justice-Judge Cha.
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JUDGE CHA MOON SOOK A SCULPTOR
OF
HER
OWN PUBLIC IMAGE
Judge Cha Moon Sook was a passionate sculptor of her public image; she had contributed generously for 10 years to a certain orphanage. A figure of benevolence. That caught the attention of the foreign press.
Lots of presents were handed to the many enthusiastic children at the orphanage, probably her favourite charity.
 
Monetary gifts changed hands. Her right-hand woman, Nam Soon Ja, handed over an envelope, probably containing a cheque, to an administrator of the orphanage.
It was not a surreptitious act; they were in the full view of the camera and the foreign news crew.
No wonder Ha Gi Ho, Ha Jae Yi’s father had been truly impressed. Too easily impressed indeed. The daughter was not too far behind. Mother Teresa, indeed!
   Judge Cha was like a queen, with Nam Soon Ja at her beck and call. Her right-hand woman seemed to have poured a generous amount of moisturiser oops.. sanitizer on her hands. One couldn't be too cautious about getting germs from everyone including little children.  
As she walked off, a curious official seemed to have questioned her about a possible candidate for the post of Mayor but she was non-committal.
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BONG SANG PIL
THE
LAWLESS LAWYER
Bong Sang Pil was enjoying the televised show at his office. Judge Cha’s news was all the rage in Korea. She was voted the most popular person.
Judge Cha Moon Sook had proudly proclaimed, ‘All of Ki Seong’s children are my children. I am married to Ki Seong.’ It implied that she was still single.
The woman was charming to the core. She even spoke in English, impressing on the foreign television crew and audience on her expert command of the international language; she truly deserved to be the top leader.
She had been chosen as ‘The Most Respected Woman of the Year’ and she also topped the list of ‘The Most Preferred Leader’. It seemed that she had dominated the top rank for many years: there were no serious contenders for the position. She had endeared herself to everyone and was affectionately nicknamed 'Mother Teresa'.
Judge Cha was shrewd; she probably made sure that a television crew always followed her around to ensure that everyone in Ki Seong would not be ignorant of her good deeds.
        
Sceptical as he was, Bong Sang Pil had to concede that Judge Cha Moon Sook was great at appearances but appearances could be deceptive.
It seemed that the Ha Jae Yi idolised the judge and was easily smitten by the judge’s sweet appearance, particularly, after the Judge Cha had mercifully vindicated her client of murder. Sweet Mercy. Hae Jae Yi seemed gullible and had fallen under the spell of the older woman.
Then, the topic of conversation turned to Bong Sang Pil’s suit that Ha Jae Yi had damaged the night before. The lawless lawyer had placed a bill on her desk demanding compensation for his expensive custom-made Italian suit. The bill for compensation amounted to 453 Euros.
Bong Sang Pil emphasized that he had waited for 6 months for his suit to be ready. One thinks of 007 - James Bond who probably had his bespoke suits designed and stitched in Saville Row, if not in Italy. Suits only reserved for superspies and superclass lawyers.
Bong was at pains to point out that the compensation included freight and stain removal charges. He had to send the suit jacket to Italy to be cleaned. The amount she owed would be deducted from her salary.
        
Ha Jae Yi couldn’t help being irritated by his inane remarks but the point was taken. The important lesson: Losing one's temper is expensive.
Despite that, the aggressive lady was looking for a fight again.
Ha Jae Yi asserted that she would do things her way for all cases in the future, including Wu Hyeong Man’s case. Strange. The suspended lawyer was a mere Office Manager. What rights did she have over her boss's law cases?
Bong Sang Pil thought it would be fun to humour her. He pointed at her, stood up and went round to her desk.
He agreed that lawyers, even suspended ones, should have their basic human rights. Lawyers should consider social justice as their goal.
She smirked that he, a lawless lawyer, seemed to be well-versed in the law.
Bong argued that lawyers were self-employed so it was strange that the law demanded for social justice from someone like him. He was ‘The Lawless Lawyer’.
                   
She retorted that 'lawless' meant there was ‘absence’ of the law.
Bong explained it did not mean ‘absence’ of law. ‘Mu’ in the name 'Mubeop' means ‘War’. In the war against corruption and injustice, he would use the law to fight for his clients.
The Lawless Lawyer seemed to have a quirky sense of humour. He made a funny gesture and Bong’s stable of funny men in his office seemed to get the joke. They arranged themselves in the fighting poses of the superheroes, The Avengers’, who went to war against injustice and corruption. It was a real riot.
          
For the first time, the testy lady couldn’t help smiling. They seemed to be good people at heart. There were no downsides to having a team of clowns to cheer one up on depressing days.
    
Getting down to serious business, Bong Sang Pil gave his two cents on research work. He spelt it out that research always came first – before anything else.
To demonstrate that lesson to Ha Jae Yi, he instructed Manager Tae to release the drone.
  
The drone’s name sounded like ‘Teng Teng’.
The name reminds one of two drone producers in East Asia: the Chinese newcomer, Tengoen Technology, which is producing armed drones, and Taiwan’s Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology which has created Teng Yun, a drone designed for surveillance purposes.
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BONG SANG PIL THE HAPKIDO EXPONENT
LOW
SPINNING HEEL KICK
Meanwhile, Tae Kwang Soo and Geum Gang were at the rooftop of a commercial building. Tae was showing his teammate a drone for filming in the air. The latter was awed by the amazing aerial gadget.
           
Tae Kwang Soo weaved Geum
Gang a very
interesting tale. The lawyer’s funny henchman was told by the second
in command that he had received a new lease of life on 13 May 2013 because of their
boss, Bong Sang Pil.
Flashback. Bong Sang Pil saved his life when he was hounded by an army of gangsters. He has Bong Sang Pil’s watch to prove it.
Bong was impressive; he had blocked the blade of a knife with his watch. He had kicked the bunch of gangsters to high heaven.
He had blocked the fist of one of the thugs and delivered a powerful punch to his opponent’s belly.
He had even jumped into the air and kicked another ruffian.
Then, another thug attacked him with a knife and he gave him a powerful right hook. Grabbing hold of the person’s arm, Bong repeatedly punched the fellow.
                                   
Turning around at one point, Bong had warned Tae that if he ever saw him around after the fight, he would kill him.
   
Suddenly, the group of thugs were lined up in an aggressive stance. Bong Sang Pil had taken off his watch and thrown it away since it was a hindrance to the fight.
Tae had retrieved the watch and treated it as gold. Because of the incident, Tae explained, he became part of Bong Sang Pil's gang.
      
The most exciting part of the fight was when Bong Sang Pil
climbed up the roof of a car to fight the gangsters. The bad guys did not
know what they would be facing.
With one hand on the car, Bong Sang Pil lifted his legs up, struck out with his Hapkido low spinning heel kick to sweep the bad guys away.                
Geum Gang was so impressed. Having been offered a fresh start in his life, he also vowed to give his loyalty to the Boss and to Manager Tae. Even gangsters have a code of honour.
Bong Sang Pil seemed to be quite the natural Alpha leader. He had rather speedily drawn a new pack of obedient followers to his side.
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