BONG SANG PIL
SCANDALISING
THE COURT
A RUSH OF BLOOD 
All hell had broken loose in the courtroom. Bong San Pil’s group of
clowns had disrupted the court proceedings. Bong Sang Pil swaggered into the
courtroom amidst a cloud of fog.
The hazy clouds cleared and the judge looked at him in surprise.
Bong was asked to identify himself, which he did. And the words
that followed were ominous.
‘The trial begins now, Judge Cha Moon Sook.’
Judge Cha instructed the security guards to arrest those who were involved in the obstruction of the trial.
   
Bong Sang Pil was requested to explain why he was tardy.
Ha Jae Yi sprang to his defence, explaining about her kidnapping by some lowlifes. But, the judge was annoyed with her interference. She wanted to hear his excuses from his very own mouth.
      
Unaware that blood was oozing out of his head, Bong Sang Pil started explaining that some people wanted to prevent him from appearing in the trial.
Ha Jae Yi pleaded with Judge Cha to allow him to be attended to by the medical staff at the clinic, to which she acceded.
 
Luckily, his wounds were not deep. Was there a rush of blood to his head when Ha Jae Yi fussed over him as if he was her boyfriend?
Her feelings towards him seemed to have improved. A trace of warmth could be felt in her words and deeds. 
Her interest in him seemed to have gained steam. She admonished him for having overexerted himself at the nightclub. Did his pulse increase?
Bong claimed that he hadn’t been fighting for some time. What did that mean? Perhaps, if he had been a regular fighter, he would have been more alert and completely in his element. Then, he would have presented a more spectacular performance for her at the nightclub. She sarcastically commented that he was more talented at fighting than skilled in the law.   
Bong retorted that even lawyers, just like in action movies, had to bear the responsibility of rescuing their clients when they were in danger.
He reminded her that he had already warned her about the challenges that she would have to face when she started working with him.
Was she complimenting him when she referred to their harrowing nightclub experience as ‘an action movie’?
       
He flashed her a complacent smile as she straightened out his tie and jacket.
When Bong warned her that he might get arrested during the trial, it probably didn’t sink in. What would he be up to this time?
      |
BONG SANG PIL
SCANDALISING
THE COURT
THE SEX OFFENDER
The Twist In The Tale. When Bong Sang Pil returned to the defense table, Wu Hyeong Man, as if on cue, started disparaging Bong Sang Pil as a bad lawyer. Was Wu disappointed that Bong’s behaviour on his first day at court was unbecoming of a Defense Lawyer?
The downtrodden defendant believed in the integrity of Judge Cha Moon Sook but Bong asked him whether he was fully convinced of it. Like the majority, Wu was clueless.       
The court was back in session.
Bong Sang Pil got up to speak. His opening salvo was to request that one of the judges be replaced.    
Judge Chan remonstrated with Bong that he was already half an hour late and yet, he had the audacity to make such an impertinent request as soon as the court was in session.
What was even more shocking was his demand explicitly referred to Judge Cha Moon Sook, the Chief Judge of the three-judge panel. Bong Sang Pil wanted her to recuse herself from the trial!
Was it wise to demand that the Presiding Judge recuse herself from the trial? He was too impudent. There were not many lawyers who were so rash as to speak out against judges.
Judge Cha warned that if he did not have a good reason, he would be punished accordingly. Bong Sang Pil certainly needed a public dressing down.          
Both lawyers, the Defense Lawyer and the Prosecutor, approached the bench.
He looked directly at Judge Baek.
        
Scandalising The Court. With a mobile phone in his hand, Bong showed a video clip of Judge Baek in the process of taking an upskirt video clip of an unsuspecting woman on a subway train. The lawyer was not fabricating the evidence.
Was there an intention, on the part of Bong Sang Pil, of showing disrespect to the court? Bong Sang Pil was just exercising his right to criticize the court on a matter that he believed to be of public importance. He wanted the creep out of the trial.
Was the court scandalised? Judge Cha? The Public Prosecutor? Were
they unbiased?
      
Judge Baek was not, in the least, embarrassed at the exposure of his sexual misconduct. He quickly defended himself. He should have recused himself immediately.
He repudiated the charge and turned his personal violation of the law into a team issue, arguing that Bong was trying to sabotage not only him but also the whole bench. The criticism of the judges, aimed at two of the judges, was an offence of scandalising the court. It was an affront to the dignity of the court.
Prosecutor Kang Yeon Hee swiftly protested that Bong’s defamatory accusations of Judge Baek had nothing to do with the present court hearing. He was trying to disrupt proceedings and was guilty of outraging the judges.
 
Bong Sang Pil updated them on what was happening in the intranet of the Police Department.
He warned them that it would be in the news that day. What was implied was gossip would certainly seethe non-stop and it would get worse each day if the case was not settled.
  
Both Defense Lawyer and Prosecutor were instructed to return to their seats.
From his defense table, as an act of defiance, Bong boldly demanded again that the two judges, including Judge Cha, recuse themselves.
He wanted everyone, including those in the gallery to know what had been quietly discussed at the judge's bench. It seemed that Bong Sang Pil had inherited his mother’s courage.
     
Someone in the gallery protested, probably because of the possible deferment of the court case.
Judge Cha, by this time, was furious. She asked for confirmation, ‘Are you asking me to step down as well?’
   
Bong Sang Pil pointed out that she was in the wrong. She might have known about the sexual perversion of Judge Baek when she formed the bench but had probably decided to close an eye to it.
Even, if she had found out just now, she had to take the blame as well. It just implied that she had not done her homework; she had not carried out a careful and thorough check on Judge Baek’s character and background before she formed the bench. Whatever it was, Judge Cha Moon Sook could not escape blame for her wrong decision.
Putting his hands together as if in prayer, Bong pleaded with Judge Cha to make a fair decision.
He smirked; he was mocking her.
               
The good news. Judge Cha decided that if the video footage turned out to be true, the accused judge would be removed from the bench for the trial and sent to the disciplinary committee.
Bong Sang Pil smiled complacently and triumphantly.
          
Judge Cha confessed that she was not careful enough in forming
the bench and promised to consider getting a new bench for the trial.
  
To everyone’s surprise, Kang Yeon Hee, the Prosecutor, demanded that Bong Sang Pil be detained straight away.
 Was the employer responsible for the misconduct of his employees?                 |
THREE DAYS IN JAIL 
For that misdemeanour, Bong and his team of 6 thugs were directed to be thrown into jail for three days. Was Bong Sang Pil devastated?
Funnily enough, none of them were unhappy; all the thugs were in a jolly good mood. They downplayed their discomfort; they have entered familiar territory. It was their home ground, where all like-minded thugs were housed.
Why not? Seven (7) friends cloistered together in jail. Free food and clothing. Not a bother in the world.
     
As the handcuffed Bong Sang Pil was led away, he shouted his instructions to Ha Jae Yi to manage the office single-handededly till his release from detention.
With a twinkle in his eyes, he called out her name and shook his fingers naughtily at her, which probably meant ‘Just do it!’     
Face to face with Ha Jae Yi, Kang Yeon Hee was her usual derisive self. She expressed embarrassment at being friends with someone who worked with 'those kinds of unseemly characters'.
Kang expressed her wish to fight with her in court one day. But, Ha Jae Yi posed a pertinent question, ‘Do you think that lawyers fight with prosecutors?’ She provided her own answer. ‘Lawyers are people who fight against prejudice.'             |
MISSION FAILURE 
Many ambitious men have high
flown dreams. Ahn Oh Joo, the former gangster of a fish market, had more
elaborate dreams. He now had the opportunity to shine.
Gazing at the amazing hologram of a city, a 3D projection of his dream project ..oops… Judge Cha’s dream project, The Golden City, Ahn Oh Ju drifted off into reverie.   
He was brought out of his day
dream by his anger over Seok Gwan Dong’s failure to put an end to Bong Sang
Pil’s ambition to defend Wu Hyeong Man in the murder trial. He was furious
that his hatchet man had been ineffective in nipping Bong’s court involvement in
the bud.
His clear instruction to Seok Gwan Dong was to either compel Bong Sang Pil to drop Wu Hyeong Man’s case or kill him.
Seok was summoned to Ahn Oh Ju’s office to explain his failure in his mission.
     
Ahn Oh Ju was unconvinced that Seok and his busloads of knife-wielding thugs could not even thwart one defenceless lawyer. Harsh punitive action was waiting for Seok but he didn’t know it.
Seok was candid about Bong Sang Pil’s powerful martial arts skills. He explained that the lawyer was a fighter who could fight with his bare hands. Seok did not hide the fact that he had lost his edge to his more formidable enemy. Bong Sang Pil had reduced him to a mere shadow.
Ahn Oh Ju was furious that Seok had the nerve to even speak about it. He did not want to hear excuses. If he had kept his mouth shut and not say anything, the gangster boss could have forgiven him.
Without any warning, the criminal boss not only plunged a sharp blade into Seok’s thigh but also twisted it in. The cruelty was shocking. Seok screamed in pain.
One of his two bodyguards was shocked. But, his secretary seemed calm, and coolly handed his boss a handkerchief to wipe the blade. It went with the territory.         
The gangster boss knew of rumours that Bong Sang Pil had the backing of a powerful figure. He soon learnt that it was Choi Dae Woong, one of the three gang leaders in Seoul. Choi had raised Bong Sang Pil to be a lawyer.
But, what had escaped Ahn Oh Ju's understanding was Bong Sang Pil could fight his own battles, without a strong backer. Bong Sang Pil, a formidable opponent, was a fierce and fearless fighter who could fight anyone to death.
Seok wondered why the boss was so interested in Bong.
Ahn Oh Ju revealed that he had a big project waiting for him.          |