Cho Kuk presses for impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, warning Democrats not to 'treat him as a pushover'

Cho Kuk, former leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, publicly pressured for the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, telling the Democratic Party, "If you let this slide, they will treat the president as a pushover." The move threatens to turn the question of whether to pursue impeachment of the head of the judiciary into a source of infighting within the ruling camp.

Background: Rivalry over course of action spreads into Chief Justice impeachment crisis

Tensions between President Lee Jae-myung and Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae show signs of escalating into an impeachment crisis. Amid this standoff, the former party leader is pressuring the Democratic Party with the argument that if it fails to move forward with impeachment proceedings, the president's authority will effectively be disregarded by the judiciary. His remarks are seen as going beyond a personal opinion to a level that could define the confrontation between the ruling and opposition camps. Within the ruling party, some had already voiced the view that the impeachment option should be considered, citing distrust of how the court panels were composed and how rulings have unfolded.

The crux of the matter is procedure. Impeaching the Chief Justice requires approval from at least two-thirds of National Assembly members and a ruling upholding it by the Constitutional Court. The ruling party alone falls short of the required quorum, making impeachment impossible without defections from the opposition. For Cho's pressure to become reality, votes would have to emerge even from within the People Power Party recognizing the need to check the judiciary—a condition that is difficult to meet in the current political landscape.

Divergent views within the ruling camp and points of contention

Sentiment inside the Democratic Party is not uniform. Hardline supporters are loudly demanding impeachment proceedings, while the party leadership is reportedly worried about the political cost of a direct confrontation with the judiciary. As instances of political intervention in judicial matters pile up—such as Seo Young-gyo, chair of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, issuing a statement in the committee chair's name regarding the case involving Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon—the rift within the party between legal caution and political aggression is widening.

Cho's "pushover" remark is interpreted as aimed precisely at this divide. The experience of the 2024 general election, in which the Cho Kuk Innovation Party he founded and led won a sizable share of proportional representation seats, showed that the progressive bloc can meaningfully affect the ruling party's electoral performance. With that in mind, the calculation runs, the Democratic Party will find it hard to shut the door entirely on impeachment.

Political schedule and outlook

The National Assembly schedule bears watching. Just as all three candidates for National Assembly speaker emphasized the success of the Lee Jae-myung government during the selection process, the more the ruling party consolidates control of the Assembly, the more impeachment remains a card it can play at any time. Still, President Lee has pushed back against suspicions that he "directs investigations," saying, "Checking who is on whose side is one-sided," and the presidential office has stressed that the principle of political neutrality of investigative agencies remains intact. This is read as a message that the presidential office is reluctant to step directly into an impeachment showdown.

For now, Cho's pressure is expected to become a variable that sets the pace of the Democratic Party's response. If conflict with the judiciary intensifies in step with court schedules, the ruling party cannot rule out a scenario in which it symbolically proceeds with impeachment signatures to rally its base. Conversely, if public opinion reacts negatively to pressure on the judiciary, the impeachment discussion will most likely fade on its own. Ultimately, the verdicts of the Supreme Court and the direction of public opinion in the coming weeks are expected to determine the fate of the impeachment card.