[Anchor]
Lawmakers from the pan-ruling camp launched fierce attacks against Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. One lawmaker even asked if he was "dreaming of becoming a second Yoon Suk Yeol," to which Chief Justice Cho fired back, calling the remark "insulting." He also directly refuted allegations regarding Supreme Court cooperation during martial law and suspicions over the use of his operational expenses.
Reporter Kim Kwan-jin reports.
[Reporter]
Today (October 6), Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae appeared at the Supreme Court's parliamentary audit as the head of the agency.
Unlike last year's audit, where he remained silent throughout after delivering opening remarks, this time he selectively responded to aggressive questions from pan-ruling camp lawmakers.
[Lee Sung-yoon / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Public trust in the judiciary plummeted from 38% to 19%. It plummeted during your tenure, Chief Justice.]
[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: I heard announcements recently that South Korea's judicial trust has improved.]
The exchanges between pan-ruling camp lawmakers and Chief Justice Cho grew intensely sharp.
[Son Sol / Progressive Party Lawmaker: Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, are you perhaps dreaming of becoming a second Yoon Suk Yeol?]
[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Such words are insulting and also saddening.]
When pan-ruling camp lawmakers pressed him on why the Supreme Court stayed silent regarding the illegal December 3 martial law and the riot at the Seoul Western District Court, Chief Justice Cho pushed back firmly.
[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: When Martial Law Command asked us to "identify personnel"… I instructed that because this was an absolute unconstitutional act, no personnel should be dispatched and no roster should be provided.]
[Kim Ki-pyo / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Why did you not issue a statement during the disturbance at the Western District Court, Chief Justice?]
[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: At that time, the head of the National Court Administration went directly to the site and issued a strong statement.]
Regarding allegations that he misused operational funds for expensive meals and wine purchases, Chief Justice Cho explained that he had never even seen the corporate card. Conservative opposition lawmakers then counterattacked by bringing up the allegations surrounding President Lee Jae-myung and his wife regarding the use of Gyeonggi provincial corporate cards.
[Kim Min-jeon / People Power Party Lawmaker: At the very least, shouldn't the Democratic Party refrain from talking about corporate cards?]
They also moved to defend Chief Justice Cho, arguing that the ruling camp's attempts to undermine the judiciary were the bigger issue.
[Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party Lawmaker: I believe the Democratic Party's hardline 'Gaettal' politics is ruining South Korea's Constitution and national system.]
In the National Assembly today, amid escalating friction between the president and the chief justice over the issue of Supreme Court justice nominations, lawmakers from the pan-ruling camp and conservative opposition clashed fiercely from the very first day of the parliamentary audit.
Video by Oh Young-chun, Shin Dong-hwan, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Won Hyung-hee
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