"I was very angry," Kim recalled. "I didn't have a clear mind, but I knew that I was talking to a wall in court. I wanted to confront him and ask: 'Why did you do this? Why didn't you observe the law?'"
Bystanders quickly detained Kim.
At trial, the prosecution produced a bloody shirt and undergarments they said belonged to the judge, saying that Park had been injured during the scuffle. The defense attorney argued that the blood was fabricated and that the stains didn't match up with the judge's supposed stomach wound, Kim said.
Thanks to the movie, Kim is getting a second public hearing. A Korean Herald feature says, "The film reignited the long-held public suspicion that the crossbow trial might have been biased and faulty."
The judge has refused to speak publicly about the movie. During Kim's criminal trial, Park asked the court to show leniency to the professor, citing his emotional state at the time of the attack. "I hope such an incident will never happen again to anyone," Park told the court. "But there is a saying, 'Hate the crime, but don't hate the man.'"
Kim remains jobless, and, because of his status as a convicted felon, he was recently denied a U.S. visa to visit his son in Los Angeles.
He still defends himself to anyone who will listen, and is hawking a self-published book called "Judges, Who Do You Think You Are?" The cover shows Kim with a code of law in one hand, a crossbow in the other.
At the same time, he says he'll never again stalk a judge.
"Once is enough," Kim said. "Anyway, it didn't work. I never got my answers."
john.glionna@latimes.com
