Chief Justice Jo Hee-de: 'I will work to ensure the Supreme Court has no vacancies'

Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de apologized for the vacancies on the Supreme Court bench and said he would make every effort to ensure the court has its full complement of justices, in his closing remarks at the Supreme Court audit by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 6th.

Regarding the recently raised issues with the Supreme Court's operating expenses (funds spent by officials on work that were recorded as operating expenses) and incentive payments, Chief Justice Jo said, "The judiciary's budget comes from the people's precious tax money, and as an institution that declares law and principle, the judiciary must be all the more rigorous in its budget execution," adding, "We will review our standards and procedures to meet the public's expectations."

At this audit, Chief Justice Jo was called as a general witness on the issue of nominating Supreme Court justices and faced demands for testimony from opposition lawmakers. Invoking the principle of separation of powers, he refused to take the witness oath. However, he took out two prepared A4 sheets of paper and spoke for about six minutes. He emphasized, "Just as the Chief Justice cannot be involved in any way in the National Assembly's consent process or the President's appointment process, the National Assembly and the President cannot be involved in any way in the Chief Justice's nomination."

Although custom calls for him to leave his seat after delivering opening remarks, Chief Justice Jo remained at the audit session for about two hours and 30 minutes, from 10:10 a.m. until just before the lunch break. It was confirmed that even after his closing remarks, he stayed for another 20 minutes or so to take questions from Democratic Party members of the Judiciary Committee before saying, "I came here to deliver closing remarks, and I cannot take any further questions."