Ruling and Opposition Parties Continue Sparring Over Cho Heedae Impeachment Over Weekend

The ruling and opposition parties continued their war of words on Oct. 17 over the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Heedae. After the Democratic Party of Korea said it would "hold Chief Justice Cho accountable to the very end," the People Power Party criticized the move, saying, "The filing of an impeachment motion will signal the downfall of the administration."

Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae attends the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Court and other institutions at the National Assembly on Oct. 13, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin.

In a written briefing that day, Lee Yong-woo, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said, "There is no shortage of issues that Chief Justice Cho must answer for, including his refusal to renominate a Supreme Court justice, the prolonged vacancy, allegations of election interference arising from the reversal and remand shortly before the presidential election, and controversies over false reporting of business promotion expenses and the improper payment of encouragement money." He added, "The chief justice cannot evade scrutiny of how taxpayers' money is spent or how his authority is exercised."

He continued, "It is the National Assembly's duty to investigate allegations of unconstitutionality and illegality and hold those responsible to account."

Addressing People Power Party floor leader Jung Jeom-sik, who said that the public would call for "Lee Jae-myung's impeachment" the moment an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cho was filed, Lee said, "It is a truly irresponsible statement to threaten the president by dragging him into a matter of holding the chief justice accountable." He asked, "Are you trying to recast calls for Chief Justice Cho to be held accountable as political retaliation against the president?"

He added, "Threatening the president cannot cover up Chief Justice Cho's responsibility," and said, "Stop inciting impeachment in the name of the people and end your unconditional defense of Cho Heedae. The Democratic Party will not be swayed by the People Power Party's threats and will continue to hold Chief Justice Cho accountable to the very end."

In response, Park Seong-hun, a senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, said in a commentary, "The Democratic Party's chronic impeachment obsession has flared up again." He added, "Filing an impeachment motion against the head of the judiciary will be the starting signal for the downfall of the Lee Jae-myung administration."

He criticized Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok, who had made official the party's discussions on pursuing impeachment, calling it "an outrageously petty act of using impeachment as a tool of political pressure and trying to make the chief justice a 'political hostage.'"

Choi Su-jin, the party's senior deputy floor leader and spokesperson, also wrote, "The ruling party's abuse of impeachment has now set its sights on the head of the judiciary." She added, "The largest party, which should uphold the Constitution and the law, has been swept up by the agitation of the Rebuilding Korea Party and demands from its hard-line supporters, and is bent on weakening the judiciary."

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