The first batch of four volumes of <Anti-Constitutional Actors Biographical Chronicles> (Sahoepyeongnon), containing the records of 312 public officials who committed serious anti-constitutional acts over 45 years from the establishment of the Republic of Korea government through the Roh Tae-woo administration, has been published.

The publication began from the recognition that, although dozens of truth commissions on past affairs were established after democratization, few among those responsible for state violence and anti-constitutional acts have faced proper judicial punishment. In the foreword, co-chair Lee Man-yeol wrote, "Calling out and recording the names of the perpetrators has power in and of itself. (...) Merely showing that 'if you ignore the Constitution, at the very least your name will be written on the board' will move the justice of history one step forward."

It consists of 12 volumes. Volume 1, on presidents, includes five figures: Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee, Choi Kyu-hah, Chun Doo-hwan, and Roh Tae-woo. Volume 2, on the courts, includes 27 figures such as Min Bok-gi and Yang Sung-tae, and Volumes 3 and 4, on the prosecution, include 49 figures such as Kim Jun-yeon, Hong Jin-gi, and Kim Ki-choon, including past Ministers of the Ministry of Justice and public-security prosecutors.

Syngman Rhee, who "faced Japanese aggression with 'words and writing'," is recorded as the first name in the chronicles for reasons including the "sasa-oip" constitutional amendment, the judicial killing of Jo Bong-am, and the March 15 rigged election. Park Chung-hee, "the son of a poor farmer who longed to be a war hero," is cited for anti-constitutional acts including the May 16 military coup and the destruction of constitutional order, the forced sale of the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the October Yushin, and Emergency Measure No. 9. Choi Kyu-hah is described as "a president who, through ill intent, incompetence, and inaction, cleared the way for Chun Doo-hwan to seize power." Chun Doo-hwan is labeled "the ringleader of the December 12 military mutiny and the May 17 insurrection, and the chief culprit of the Gwangju massacre," while Roh Tae-woo is called "the precarious successor of the Fifth Republic" and is assessed as having revealed "the dual character of a transitional regime, including outcomes in inter-Korean relations and diplomacy with the socialist bloc."

The compilation committee launched in 2015 and continued the publication work through more than 540 meetings up to this past March. A little over ten investigators, all PhD-level researchers, collected and reviewed diverse materials such as findings from modern Korean history scholarship, results from government truth commissions on past affairs, and news reports from the time of the incidents, to organize the anti-constitutional acts. The project targeted public officials who, in the course of official duties, committed serious anti-constitutional acts across five areas: civilian massacres, insurrection and violations of constitutional order, torture and fabricated espionage cases, fraudulent elections, and press suppression. They chose the chronicles format instead of a biographical dictionary to record in detail the historical assessments of each figure and the impact of their specific actions. Each entry was written at a length of roughly 100 to 150 manuscript pages, and up to 300 in some cases. The second and third batches are scheduled to be published sequentially by the first half of 2027. As of this past March, 71 of the 312 individuals included were still alive. Research and publication costs were covered by citizen donations.

Ham Se-ung, chair of the Minjok Munje Research Institute, said in the foreword, "This work is the strongest act of resistance and a warning against the ongoing destruction of constitutional order."