A Week After 'Written Recommendation' Controversy... Why Cheong Wa Dae is Deliberating

[Anchor]

As the conflict between the ruling bloc and the judiciary over the written recommendation for Supreme Court justices continues, political friction persisted today (the 25th). It is understood that Cheong Wa Dae is still deliberating on whether to demand the Supreme Court to make a new recommendation.

Reporter Kang Min-u investigates the background behind this situation.

[Reporter]

Following Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's "written recommendation for the successor to former Supreme Court Justice Noh Tae-ak" on the 18th, rival parties continued to spar today.

[Cho In-cheol / Democratic Party Lawmaker]: "The fact that it was sent unilaterally without sufficient consultation or agreement strikes me as a deliberate attempt to cause trouble."

[Yoon Yong-geun / People Power Party Lawmaker]: "Isn't mentioning impeachment and ignoring the Chief Justice's character simply because things don't go your way an unconstitutional act that denies the rule of law and attempts to bring the judiciary to its knees?"

Cheong Wa Dae has not released any further official statements since expressing its hardline stance on the 20th, calling it an "unprecedented situation in the constitutional history of the Republic of Korea."

Cheong Wa Dae had previously considered demanding a "re-recommendation." The reason it is still deliberating five days later appears to be Article 41-2 of the Court Organization Act, which stipulates that "a recommendation committee shall be formed whenever a Supreme Court justice candidate is recommended."

It is understood that if President Lee Jae-myung, as the appointing authority, demands Chief Justice Cho, the recommending authority, to make a new recommendation, Chief Justice Cho might bypass the four candidates previously recommended by the existing committee. Instead, he could form an entirely new recommendation committee and put forward third-party candidates. There are concerns that such a turn of events would take them even further from resolving the crisis.

A Cheong Wa Dae official cited the "necessity for a fundamental review of the powers granted by the Constitution," noting that "such a move could potentially neutralize not only the President's appointment power but also the recommendation committee's recommendation power."

This is presumably in a similar context to why Democratic Party Representative Kim Min-seok instructed officials to prepare an amendment to the Court Organization Act.

With Chief Justice Cho remaining silent and the ruling bloc toying with pressure tactics against the judiciary, such as a "bill to abolish the National Court Administration," the possibility of a prolonged standoff is growing.

Inside Cheong Wa Dae, voices are also emerging that because the vacancy of Supreme Court justices could lead to public harm, this issue must be resolved before next month's 7th, when Supreme Court Justice Lee Heung-goo is also set to retire.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)

Reported by Jung Sang-bo and Yoon Hyung | Video by Jang Hyun-ki | Graphics by Park Tae-young

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