Ruling Party Steps Up Pressure on Cho Heedae; Opposition Comes to His Defense

Cho Heedae's "unconstitutional" remarks intensify National Assembly clashes
Impeachment calls resurface... ruling party leadership remains "cautious"
Opposition defends Cho Heedae: "President Lee's trial must resume"

As controversy grows over Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Heedae’s remarks that the demand for the re-nomination of Supreme Court justices was unconstitutional, the ruling and opposition parties are stepping up their confrontation in the National Assembly. The ruling party is escalating its offensive, calling for Cho’s resignation and even raising the possibility of impeachment, while the opposition is defending him and again demanding that President Lee Jae-myung’s trial resume.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Heedae answers lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 6th.

On October 8, the ruling and opposition parties continued their dispute over the re-nomination of Supreme Court justices. During a parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court by the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee on October 6, Cho said that the presidential office and the National Assembly’s involvement in nominating Supreme Court justices would be unconstitutional. In response, members of the ruling camp have called for his resignation and even raised the possibility of impeachment.

Park Gyuntaek, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, said on KBS Radio’s “Jeongyeok Sisa” that day, “If [Cho] continues to hold out and refuses to [re-nominate the justices] even after the parliamentary audit ends, we should consider impeachment around November.” Park and some other ruling-party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, including Lee Seongyun, support renewed efforts to impeach Cho. The party leadership, however, has taken a cautious stance, saying it has not formally considered the matter. This appears to reflect concerns that pushing ahead prematurely could only bolster Cho’s political profile.

The People Power Party is focusing on defending Cho and calling for President Lee’s trial to resume. At a meeting of the party’s supreme council that day, leader Jang Donghyuk said, “Chief Justice Cho is fighting to protect the judiciary and the Republic of Korea,” adding, “The last thing he has to do is ensure that President Lee’s trial resumes.” Some analysts say that the more the government and ruling party pressure the Supreme Court, the more favorable the current public mood could be for the opposition in its political battle against the ruling camp.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.