**Bang Sun-won** (方順元, Japanese name: 方山順元, January 2, 1914 – October 21, 2004[^1]) was a [[South Korea|South Korean]] jurist who was active from the [[Japanese rule of Korea|Japanese colonial period]]. His family seat was [[Onyang Bang clan|Onyang]] (溫陽), and his pen name was Onsan (溫山). He served as presiding judge of the Seoul District Court and then as a professor at the [[Seoul National University|College of Law of Seoul National University]], and he held office as a [[Justices of the Supreme Court of South Korea|justice of the Supreme Court of South Korea]]. While still a junior judge, he could not afford to paper his home and covered the walls with newspaper instead, and when he had no rice, his wife went to a fellow judge's house to borrow some. During his tenure as a Supreme Court justice, when the Chief Justice divided the leftover budget among the Supreme Court judges as allowances, he returned his share on the grounds that it was an abuse of discretionary power.[^2] For these reasons he was counted among the "Three Great Incorruptible Judges" and, as a model for the legal profession, received the Korean Legal Culture Award and the Order of National Merit (Mugunghwa Medal), among other honors.

## Biography

Bang was a native of [[Cheonan County|Cheonan]], [[South Chungcheong Province|South Chungcheong Province]][^3]. He graduated from Sunrin Commercial High School and [[Gyeongseong Law School]], and entered the legal profession while working as a court clerk and interpreter.

In 1940 he passed the higher civil service examination in the judicial category. After serving as a probationary judge at the Hamhung District Court, he was appointed a judge of the Mokpo Branch of the Gwangju District Court in 1943. In 1945 he served as head of the Mokpo Branch of the Gwangju District Court, and he continued to work as a judge under the [[United States Army Military Government in Korea|U.S. Army Military Government]].

In 1948, with the establishment of the [[First Republic of South Korea|First Republic]], he took office as presiding judge of the Seoul District Court, and he later served as a professor at the College of Law of [[Seoul National University]].

From 1961 to 1973 he served as a [[Justices of the Supreme Court of South Korea|justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of South Korea|Supreme Court]], and from 1973 he taught trainees at the [[Judicial Research and Training Institute]]. He also worked as a representative attorney of Daeyang Law Firm and as a director of Sejong University.

Together with Kim Byung-ro, the first Chief Justice, and former Supreme Court justice Jo Mu-je, he was counted among the "Three Great Incorruptible Judges." As a model for the legal profession, he received the Korean Legal Culture Award, the Order of Service Merit (Cheongjo Medal), and the Korean Association for Communication Studies Writing Award, and in 1990 he was awarded the [[Order of National Merit]] (Mugunghwa Medal).[^4]

In 2008, he was selected in the judiciary category of the [[List of prospective entries in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators|list of prospective entries in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators]] published by the [[Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities]].

## Education

-   1932 – [[Sunrin Commercial High School]]
-   1935 – [[Gyeongseong Law School]]
-   1988 – Honorary Doctor of Law, Soongsil University

## Publications

-   *General Principles of Civil Law* (《민법총칙》)
-   *Law of Real Rights* (《물권법》)
-   *Introduction to Civil Procedure Law* (《민사소송법개론》) (1955)
-   *Lectures on the New Civil Procedure Law* (《신민사소송법강의》) (1960)
-   Essay collection *My Path, My Choice: Half a Century in Law* (《나의 길 나의 선택 법조반백년》)

## References

-   [Doosan Encyclopedia – Bang Sun-won](https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1233774&cid=40942&categoryId=31693)
-   [Bang Sun-won (方順元)](http://db.history.go.kr/url.jsp?ID=im_106_01315) – [[National Institute of Korean History]]

## Footnotes

[^1]: "방순원 前 대법원 판사 별세" [Former Supreme Court Justice Bang Sun-won Dies]. Chosun Ilbo. October 22, 2004. p. A30.
[^2]: Kyunghyang Shinmun, December 17, 1973.
[^3]: ["방순원"](http://people.empas.com/people/info/55/78/5578-joins/) [Bang Sun-won]. Empas People Search. Accessed July 18, 2008.
[^4]: ["법절차따라 갈등 해소를" 이대법원장 법의 날 기념사] ["Resolve Conflicts Through Legal Procedure": Chief Justice Lee's Commemorative Address on Law Day]. Chosun Ilbo. May 2, 1990. p. 18.