Ruling Party Publicly Presents Five Suspicions to Be Covered in Audit of Chief Justice Cho Hee-de
On the 29th, the Democratic Party of Korea publicly presented five key suspicions to be addressed in a parliamentary inspection of state affairs (a procedure in which the National Assembly investigates the affairs of state institutions) targeting Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-de. At a party meeting that day, floor operation senior deputy leader Chun Jun-ho cited the five major suspicions: the Supreme Court's remand of President Lee Jae-myung's election law case for retrial (sending the case back for a new hearing), the Supreme Court's response during the December 3 martial law episode, the controversy over the re-nomination of Supreme Court justices, suspicions over the use of operational expenses and cash incentive payments, and suspicions of delays in the trial involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee. "We hope Chief Justice Cho will actively cooperate in resolving these suspicions," he said.
The Democratic Party plans to report its request for the parliamentary inspection at a plenary session early next month and then adopt an implementation plan. On the 27th, the party's caucus decided to conduct the inspection targeting Chief Justice Cho.
However, there are differences of opinion within the party. A cautious faction arguing the inspection would yield little benefit is at odds with a hard-line faction demanding they move straight to impeachment. Rep. Kim Young-jin, a key ally of Rep. Lee Jae-myung, pointed out on SBS Radio on the 29th: "Chief Justice Cho Hee-de would have to appear, but will that actually happen? And much of what has come out so far is already public, so there are many questions raised about whether an inspection is possible based on anything new." Rep. Jung Sung-ho, another close ally, said in a media interview the previous day, the 28th: "Parliamentary inspections have usually started strong and fizzled out. I think we may need to be a bit more careful."
That same day, Rep. Park Ji-won said on the radio program "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory": "Personally, I advocate for impeaching Chief Justice Cho Hee-de." He added, "If the impeachment motion against Cho Hee-de passes the National Assembly and goes to the Constitutional Court, his duties would be suspended, so we could see that effect as well."
