[Anchor]
The Democratic Party, which is pushing for the first-ever parliamentary investigation into a Supreme Court Chief Justice, has begun full-fledged preparations. The party intends to look into all allegations surrounding Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, but controversy over the infringement of judicial power appears inevitable depending on the issues examined.
Reporter Kim Kwan-jin reports.
[Reporter]
The Democratic Party plans to launch the parliamentary investigation into Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae in early December.
[Han Byung-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: (It must be clearly made known) before the public whether the judiciary maintained political neutrality and fulfilled the responsibilities endowed by the Constitution.]
The Democratic Party maintains that it will summon Chief Justice Cho in person to examine the facts.
The party plans to look into the full spectrum of allegations against Chief Justice Cho, ranging from his refusal of re-recommendations and alleged misappropriation of operational funds to suspicions of cooperation during the emergency martial law.
[Seo Mi-hwa / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: It must be clearly made known whether the duty to defend the Constitution was fulfilled during the Dec. 3 insurrection...]
The Supreme Court's overturning and remanding of President Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act case just before the last presidential election, which sparked conflict between the ruling bloc and the Cho Hee-dae judiciary, is also being considered as a subject of investigation.
However, public opinion that is unfavorable toward pressuring the judiciary amid concerns over undermining the separation of powers poses a burden.
In a survey conducted over two days starting October 26 by the Korea Society Opinion Institute, 50.3% opposed the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho, 18.3 percentage points higher than those in favor.
Chief Justice Cho has not issued an official position regarding the parliamentary investigation, but has denied all related allegations.
[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (October 6): When the Martial Law Command said, 'Please dispatch personnel. If not, at least send a list,' I gave instructions, saying, 'It is an absolute unconstitutional act, so do not send anyone, and do not even provide a list.']
While debate continues within the legal community over whether a parliamentary investigation into a Chief Justice is appropriate, some point out that the overturning and remanding of President Lee's election law case is an ongoing trial, making it improper as a subject of investigation.
[Han Sang-hee / Professor Emeritus at Konkuk University Law School: From scheduling court dates to referring cases to the Grand Bench, all of these are matters directly related to trials, meaning there is a strong possibility of violating constitutional values such as the separation of powers and judicial independence.]
The People Power Party stressed that it would mobilize all available means, including a filibuster, to block the unconstitutional parliamentary investigation.
The Democratic Party plans to first sufficiently publicize the problems of the Cho Hee-dae judiciary through the parliamentary investigation before deciding whether to pursue impeachment.
(Video by Oh Young-choon and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Park Seon-soo | Design by Park Tae-young)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.