Ruling Party Puts Aside Calls to File Complaints and Impeach Cho Hee-dae, Says Re-nominating Supreme Court Justice Candidates Would Solve the Problem

[Financial News] Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea Cho Hee-dae has twice refused requests from the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee to appear. The Democratic Party of Korea has continued to urge caution on filing complaints or pursuing impeachment, while sharply criticizing him and calling instead for the re-nomination of Supreme Court justice candidates.
Seo Young-kyo, chair of the committee, and Kim Seung-won, the ruling party's chief committee member, held a press briefing on the 30th and criticized Cho for refusing a request to appear on the 31st. They said the request was based on Article 129 of the National Assembly Act, which requires witnesses to comply with the National Assembly Testimony and Appraisal Act, a law that includes penalties.
However, they stopped short of saying whether the committee would vote to file a complaint against Cho. Seo said, "There are conditions for punishment," but when asked whether a complaint would be put to a vote, he avoided a direct answer, saying, "They should explain to the public why they did what they did, and let the public judge."
An impeachment motion against Cho, which some in the ruling bloc have raised, was also not discussed at the briefing. Seo had previously told the media that it "would be grounds for impeachment," but within the party there are concerns about a backlash, making it difficult to formalize the idea. The reason is that there are no clear illegal acts by Cho, so the Constitutional Court of Korea would likely dismiss any impeachment case.
Instead, they, like Cheong Wa Dae, asked Cho to re-nominate candidates for Supreme Court justice. President Lee Jae Myung did not submit to the National Assembly the motion to approve the appointment of Judge Son Bong-gi, one of the two candidates nominated by Cho. The reason given was that the process had procedural flaws, including the lack of prior coordination. The Supreme Court is reportedly planning to restart the process in line with the Court Organization Act, which requires a recommendation committee to be formed each time a Supreme Court justice is nominated. The ruling party and Cheong Wa Dae are instead demanding that one of the remaining recommended candidates be renominated immediately.
Kim said, "Cheong Wa Dae's request for re-nomination is reasonable. If the candidates are renominated accordingly, the issue can be resolved," adding, "The Court Organization Act's requirement to form a new recommendation committee each time a Supreme Court justice is nominated did not anticipate a situation like this."
In political circles, Lee is said to prefer Kim Min-ki, a chief judge at the Seoul High Court, among the three remaining candidates. Kim's spouse is Justice Oh Young-joon of the Constitutional Court of Korea, who was appointed by the current administration. The view is that this could help minimize jurisdictional conflict between the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court through the constitutional complaint system for final court judgments, which was introduced under Democratic Party leadership. The Supreme Court and the opposition have raised concerns that this could amount to a conflict of interest.

[email protected] Kim Yun-ho Reporter