RKP takes action on “impeachment of Cho Hee-dae,” pressing the 161-seat DPK to make a decision

[Financial News] The standoff between the ruling and opposition parties over the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is intensifying. After the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) made impeachment discussions official, the Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP) also stepped up pressure by unveiling an impeachment motion. The People Power Party strongly objected, calling it an attempt to shield President Lee Jae-myung from trial.
According to political sources on the 19th, the RKP held an on-site Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly that day and unveiled a motion to impeach Chief Justice Cho. Party leader Shin Jang-sik said, “Just as we defeated the December 3 Rebellion, the National Assembly must also put an end to the judicial coup,” and proposed that the DPK form a joint task force (TF) and hold a joint lawmakers’ meeting. The RKP plans to deliver the motion to DPK lawmakers and pursue consultations between the two parties’ floor leaders.
The impeachment motion unveiled by the RKP cites as grounds the Supreme Court’s decision last year to reverse and remand President Lee’s case under the Public Official Election Act, its refusal to comply with a request to renominate a Supreme Court justice candidate, and allegations involving payments of encouragement funds and the use of business promotion expenses. The RKP claims that Chief Justice Cho violated his duty of political neutrality and infringed on the public’s right to a speedy trial.
The DPK is also formally reviewing the possibility of impeachment. Party leader Kim Min-seok said in a party YouTube broadcast on the 16th, “There are widespread calls even at the mere mention of impeachment,” adding, “We have begun putting every issue, method and possible course of action on the table for discussion.” Calls for impeachment, previously raised mainly by some lawmakers, have thus expanded into discussions at the party leadership level.
DPK spokesperson Lee Yong-woo also pressed Chief Justice Cho to resign voluntarily the previous day, saying, “With grounds for impeachment more than ample, the public has already delivered its verdict.” The DPK, however, has not formally adopted impeachment as its party position. Since passage of the motion by the National Assembly would suspend the head of the judiciary from duty, the party must weigh the political cost and the possibility of a backlash.
The expiration of Kim Keon-hee’s detention period, scheduled for the 31st, is also a factor. The special counsel team investigating Kim Keon-hee has requested that an additional detention warrant be issued. Some in the ruling camp speculate that demands to impeach Chief Justice Cho could intensify if Kim is released. Cho Kuk, head of the RKP’s Institute for Innovation Policy Studies, urged the DPK to set a date for the impeachment motion’s vote in a plenary session of the National Assembly.
The People Power Party views the impeachment push as a political attempt to prevent the resumption of President Lee’s trial. Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok criticized the broader ruling bloc’s moves that day, calling them “a parliamentary coup that destroys the separation of powers and a real rebellion,” and saying, “They are trying to suspend the Chief Justice’s duties to prevent President Lee’s trial from resuming.”
Under the Constitution, a motion to impeach the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court must be proposed by at least one-third of the National Assembly’s members and is passed if supported by a majority of the Assembly’s total membership. If the DPK, with 161 seats, pursues impeachment as its party position, it would be difficult for the People Power Party to block it through a vote alone. However, the immediate suspension of Chief Justice Cho’s exercise of his powers upon passage of the motion, and the continuation of an acting-chief arrangement until the Constitutional Court of Korea issues its decision, pose a burden.

[email protected] Kim Gyeong-min Reporter