An op-ed in the Korean Times by Mike Weisbart, titled Three Cheers for Hong Kong Justice:

Everyone is probably happy to see the Korean farmers return from Hong Kong. But there are some good reasons Koreans ought to enjoy seeing that city’s system come down hard on the three Korean farmers who must return in March to face trial.

They’re happy now because the homecoming means Korea’s international embarrassment won’t be extended indefinitely, and they can stop feeling so hypocritical. Can you imagine the uproar if some foreigners came here and protested violently, disrupting lives and businesses, injuring hard working, everyday Korean policemen, only to be given a get-out-of-jail-free card just because their home government begged? If the shoe was on the other foot, Koreans would be screaming bloody murder.

Sending the men back to Hong Kong for trial will be a boon for Korea’s justice system and, by extension, a boon for the people. Call it the demonstration effect.

If you didn’t follow the news, 1000 Korean farmers converged with other protestors last December to protest the WTO talks in Hong Kong. When the meetings started, the Koreans were uncharacteristically well behaved and everyone praised them for their restraint. On the last day or so, however, things got ugly and there were arrests.

Koreans howled and the government sent a delegation to negotiate. Most of the protestors were let go, except for a hard-core group of 11. For them, Korea dispatched more officials and even enlisted the support of popular actors, as if the Chinese would be swayed by the threat of having the Korean Wave shut off. At the end of last week, charges were dropped against all, but the above-mentioned three and everyone was allowed to return home.

We shouldn’t criticize the Korean government too much. It was caught between an inflamed public demanding the rescue of its fellow citizens being ill treated in a foreign land, on one side, and the understanding that it would be outraged if the situation was reversed and Hong Kong was interfering in Korean jurisdiction, on the other.

It’s just too bad it can’t step out of itself and praise Hong Kong for dealing with the matter properly because that city’s justice system is exactly the model Korea should want to emulate, where the rule of law is respected and the courts and police are given their due.

There, the police made arrests and conducted an investigation. They talked to witnesses, reviewed photos and video footage, and determined there was enough evidence for prosecutors to lay charges. In Korea, the prosecutors would have done the investigation and decided whether to indict or not. If they opted for indictment, the judge would agree with the prosecution as a matter of course (if statistics are to be believed, that happens in 99 percent of cases) and, in the end, the ``accused’’ would have been advised by council to plead guilty and beg for mercy.

It was interesting watching the Koreans avail themselves of the justice system there, knowing full well that the same rights are not extended to the accused here at home. In Hong Kong, they were allowed a lawyer, and given the latitude to mount a real defense in which their defender could cast doubt on the evidence brought by the prosecutors, all done under an assumption of innocence that forces the prosecutors to carry the burden of proof. Because of that burden, the trial was fair.

In this case, the judge ruled the prosecution didn’t had insufficient evidence and let the men go. This isn’t an example of Hong Kong punishing Koreans for political purposes, as alleged by the Korean defense attorney, who comported himself with all the grace of a child whose candy was taken away. It was a matter of due process.

And what did the police say? ``We have done our best to present evidence in a way that is most fair to the defendants.’’ And then this: ``You have to present the case in a fair manner, in accordance with the rule of law. Evidence must satisfy the standard set by the legal system.’’

When was the last time such words were uttered at the end of a dispute of any kind in Korea? Here, the losing side would vow to fight on, as did the ringleader of the Korean farmers on the way back to Seoul: ``The clash was caused by police,’’ he said. ``We are furious that Hong Kong authorities did not drop all charges. The fact that 11 were released without any charges shows that the police are pursuing this on a political basis, rather than on the evidence.’’

No, the system worked the way it is supposed to work and Koreans should look to it and hope the same becomes reality here. They should hope for a separation of power between judges and prosecutors and, yes, they should hope for the police to take a more responsible position in the system.

The president’s laudable judicial reform agenda is off the rails and it would be like hoping against hope to look forward to it getting back on track again during his term. All we can do now is hope someone notices what really happened in Hong Kong and push the next guy into affecting some change here at home.

On a completely unrelated note, archaeologists have uncovered a coin collector's tomb. Who knew such a useless hobby had such a long history?