Judiciary Committee to Question Supreme Court Chief Justice on 'Written Recommendation' on Aug. 31; DP Leads Witness Adoption

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee has decided to hold a pending issues questioning session on August 31 regarding Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's "written recommendation" of Supreme Court justices and the Supreme Court full bench referral of former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min's final appeal cases concerning charges of engaging in key missions of insurrection.

During a full committee meeting today (the 21st), the Judiciary Committee passed the motion to summon Chief Justice Cho and National Court Administration Minister Noh Kyung-phil as witnesses, led by the Democratic Party.

Representative Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party, the ruling party's secretary of the committee, stated regarding Chief Justice Cho and Minister Noh, "We judge that their attitude of ignoring the National Assembly and the presidential office has gone too far. Instead of hiding behind curtains or legal representatives, they should attend the full committee meeting and thoroughly explain the actions they have taken."

The People Power Party opposed the adoption of witnesses and walked out just before the vote.

In a subsequent press conference at the National Assembly, the People Power Party members of the Judiciary Committee argued, "Summoning the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to the National Assembly to interrogate the background of his recommendations amounts to the National Assembly conducting a post-facto interrogation of the recommendation power vested in the Chief Justice by the Constitution."

They claimed, "If the Democratic Party wants the truth, the people who should be placed in the witness seat are the President and the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs," adding, "We urge the Democratic Party to immediately withdraw the unilaterally voted pending issues questioning schedule and witness adoption."

Previously, during a full committee meeting on the 19th, the Judiciary Committee passed a motion demanding Chief Justice Cho's attendance, spearheaded by pan-ruling parties including the Democratic Party, but Chief Justice Cho did not attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, appearing on a radio program today, Representative Kim Seung-won pointed out that the "imperial Supreme Court Chief Justice system" is problematic, and stated, "The National Court Administration has acted as a mobile strike force for the Chief Justice. We need to abolish it and replace it with a Court Administration Office that only handles execution duties, while enabling important court matters to be decided by a judges' council."

Meeting with reporters afterward, when asked whether the bill to abolish the National Court Administration would pass during the upcoming regular session of the National Assembly, he replied, "I merely expressed my personal view that the time has come for sufficient discussion and we can no longer hesitate."

Floor Senior Deputy Policy Spokesperson Kim Han-gyu stated regarding the same question, "That matter is something the party has not yet discussed."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.