[Anchor]
Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae attended the parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court. While refusing to take an oath or testify, he explained in his opening remarks why he rejected Cheong Wa Dae's request to nominate an alternative candidate for Supreme Court justice.
Reporter Ha Jeongyeon reports.
[Reporter]
On the morning of Tuesday, October 6, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee convened for its audit of the Supreme Court.
With Cheong Wa Dae and the Supreme Court unable to bridge their differences over the resubmission of a Supreme Court justice candidate, Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae addressed the nomination issue in his opening statement.
[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: "First, I deeply apologize for causing concern to the public as the vacancy on the Supreme Court has been prolonged. Since many citizens are paying close attention, I would like to explain the circumstances."]
Chief Justice Cho stated that he found it difficult to proceed with follow-up procedures because Cheong Wa Dae's official document requesting a resubmission did not clearly state specific reasons or constitutional grounds, adding:
[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: "This was in line with the principle that the Chief Justice's power of nomination recommendation, the National Assembly's power of consent, and the President's power of appointment must each be respected in accordance with their constitutional significance."]
He declined the National Assembly's demand to take an oath or give testimony as a witness, citing the separation of powers and judicial independence, which triggered clashes between the ruling and opposition parties.
[Seo Young-kyo / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "The Chief Justice must take the witness oath. Witnesses from relevant agencies, including Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, have an obligation to answer."]
[Park Hyoung-soo / People Power Party Lawmaker: "For decades, Chief Justices have delivered their greetings and then stepped away.... Why was that precedent established? It was to respect the independence of the judiciary."]
After being designated as a general witness for the parliamentary audit, Chief Justice Cho submitted a statement of reasons for non-attendance and instead attended Tuesday's audit in his capacity as the head of the audited agency.
Chief Justice Cho did not dodge questions regarding the resubmission of Supreme Court candidates or the alleged misuse of official business funds, making an unusually determined series of remarks, but left the session when it resumed in the afternoon citing health reasons.
Video by Oh Young-choon and Lee Seung-hwan | Video Editing by Nam Il
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