Democratic Party of Korea to prioritize parliamentary probe over impeachment of Cho Hee-dae: “Differences within the party, but stance unchanged”

[Financial News] The Democratic Party of Korea has settled on prioritizing a parliamentary investigation over rushing to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. With calls within the party for immediate impeachment at odds with calls to focus on people’s livelihoods, the plan is to use the investigation to secure objective evidence and gauge public opinion.
Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok appeared on the party’s YouTube broadcast “Minty07” on the 28th and said, regarding the issue of Chief Justice Cho, “The basic consensus among our lawmakers at this point is that it would be best to proceed with a parliamentary investigation.”
Kim said he had conveyed the same position at the lawmakers’ general meeting the previous day, explaining, “Officially, no major dissenting views on that have been put forward.” He added, “So far, the party’s stance is moving in that direction.”
He said, however, that views within the party were not entirely unanimous. Kim said, “It is hard to say that everyone is 100% of one mind,” adding, “Some believe it would be better to move quickly with impeachment and that the conditions for it are sufficiently in place, while others believe that, fundamentally, public sentiment wants a focus on people’s livelihoods rather than impeachment or a parliamentary investigation.”
He cited shaping public opinion and securing objective evidence as reasons for prioritizing a parliamentary investigation. Kim said, “It would be better to build up more objective grounds by looking at the landscape of public opinion compared with past impeachment cases and considering how fully these issues have been conveyed to the public.” He also said that the issues surrounding Chief Justice Cho had not been adequately conveyed to the public.
He also emphasized the need to focus on issues affecting people’s livelihoods. Kim said, “Growth and exports have recovered quite well, but the problems of polarization and inequality have fundamentally worsened compared with the past,” adding, “I think it would be best to focus on ways to improve people’s livelihoods during the budget session as well.”
Accordingly, the Democratic Party of Korea is expected to continue pursuing a parliamentary investigation into Chief Justice Cho while maintaining its focus on livelihood-related budgets and legislation during the regular session. However, as calls for impeachment continue from party hard-liners, further discussion may take place as the investigation moves forward.

[email protected] Kim Gyeong-min Reporter