[2026 Parliamentary Audit] Ruling Party: "Impeach Cho Hee-dae; Oh Se-hoon Ruling Is Bogus"... Court Administration Chief: "No Involvement in Individual Trials"

Lee Seong-yoon: "Impeaching Cho Hee-dae is the only answer"
Repeated criticism of judiciary rulings
Kim Ki-pyo: "Oh Se-hoon ruling is a shambles"
Noh Kyung-pil: "Any issues with the ruling can be corrected through appeals"

On Oct. 26, Noh Kyung-pil, chief of the National Court Administration, said, "I don't think it is appropriate to make remarks suggesting that the Cho Hee-dae judiciary has done this or that," after Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers repeatedly criticized Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and the judiciary.

Yonhap News Agency

Noh made the remarks during a comprehensive parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, in response to Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Seong-yoon, who criticized the judiciary by citing appellate rulings involving former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, as well as the acquittal of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

Lee also mentioned Chief Justice Cho's refusal to take an oath as a witness at the parliamentary audit and allegations involving incentive payments and business promotion expenses, arguing, "I believe impeaching Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is the only answer."

In response, Noh said, "Although the chief justice represents the judiciary in judicial administration, no one, including the chief justice, can intervene in lower court trials, and no one does," adding, "Each panel of judges independently determined guilt or innocence and the sentence based on the evidence and facts."

Debate also continued over the appellate ruling in Mayor Oh's case. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ki-pyo criticized the ruling, which overturned the first-instance conviction, calling it "a completely shambolic decision overall" and asking, "How can that be called a ruling by the Seoul High Court of the Republic of Korea?"

Noh replied, "It would be inappropriate for the chief of the National Court Administration to comment on an individual case," adding, "If there are legal issues with the ruling, they can be sufficiently corrected through the appeals process."

Seo Young-kyo, chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, also asked Noh to compare the first- and second-instance rulings in Mayor Oh's case, saying, "The entire nation is watching this."

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