Park Ji-won: "Reviewing Impeachment for Unprecedented Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae... Concerns Over Jeju Police Turn into Reality"

- President Lee's approval rating rebound? It will rise further with consultations on tax policy between the party, government, and presidential office
- The party effectively conveyed public sentiment on 'non-resident single-home owners' to the government
- Must adapt to President Lee's style of disclosing policy processes and gathering opinions
- Allowing bathtubs in gosiwons? A complete blunder... Must be corrected after being called out
- Cho Hee-dae broke customary discussions on Supreme Court justice nominations like an aberration
- Resolve through re-nomination… Must coordinate until the end even if opinions differ
- Cho Hee-dae should resign for his own honor… Impeachment is also under review
- Kim Min-seok hanging nationwide banners calling for 'Cho Hee-dae's resignation'? A good choice
- Jeju police falsely closing missing person case? Concerns turned into reality
- Make a fresh start, build the system, and monitor via the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service
- Noh Woong-rae acquitted? He would be a sitting lawmaker if not for Han Dong-hoon… Han must apologize
- Reinstatement in next general election? Up to new leadership… I would have given him the nomination
 
■ Broadcast: SBS Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show (FM 103.5 MHz 7:00 – 9:00 AM)
■ Date: August 24, 2026 (Mon)
■ Host: Attorney Kim Tae-hyun
■ Guest: Park Ji-won, Lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : We meet with him every other week. Let's speak with 9-dan political veteran Park Ji-won, lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea. Hello, Lawmaker Park.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Hello.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Lawmaker Park, a Gallup Korea poll came out on Friday, and the president's approval rating rebounded for the first time in a month.
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is right. It will go up even more this week.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : However, this Gallup survey was conducted via telephone interviews from August 18 to 20, and detailed information can be found on the National Election Survey Deliberation Committee website. While it is good news that the president's rating went up, Seoul dropped by 10 percentage points.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Down to 32%.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : But Seoul is important.
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is because of real estate.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : As expected.
 
[Park Ji-won] : But yesterday, Representative Kim Min-seok held his first consultative meeting among the party, government, and presidential office since taking office. It clearly showed why we hold these trilateral meetings and why the Democratic Party exists.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : In what aspect?
 
[Park Ji-won] : We requested several things from the government, including issues regarding single-home-owning households and the comprehensive real estate tax. The government responded positively, and in fact, all the newspapers evaluated it favorably this morning.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : In the end, Representative Kim Min-seok proposed easing regulations on non-resident single-home owners.
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is right. When I met with the President, I also told him to look at this issue seriously.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : You did as well?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Regardless, the role of the party and the National Assembly is to listen most closely to the voices of the people as we travel around our constituencies.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : That is true.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Representative Kim Min-seok organized this well and demonstrated why consultations among the party, government, and presidential office are necessary. Therefore, I believe approval ratings will start rising from this week.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : In short, you are saying the party played a very constructive and good role by gauging public sentiment and conveying it to the government and the presidential office.
 
[Park Ji-won] : It played a good role.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : At any rate, you believe Representative Kim Min-seok did well to propose deregulating non-resident single-home owners regarding the comprehensive real estate tax. Right?
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is correct.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Lawmaker Park, Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik reportedly said yesterday: "The tax reform plan was not announced unilaterally, but rather introduced as a starting point to listen to public opinion." It sounds as if the government's announcement was not a final plan, but merely floated to test public reaction. Is that really desirable?
 
[Park Ji-won] : It does not mean that. I wrote something similar two weeks ago, but under past administrations, tax policies and state affairs were decided behind closed doors and just announced for implementation. The Lee Jae-myung administration is unique in that it live-broadcasts entire Cabinet meetings, sharing the policymaking process with the public. They make it open. So I did express some frustration, because when that process gets reported...
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : It causes confusion instead?
 
[Park Ji-won] : The public often perceives the process itself as a finalized policy.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : That can happen.
 
[Park Ji-won] : But what Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said yesterday seems to align with what I said.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Is that so?
 
[Park Ji-won] : It means, "It is not finalized, but since we disclose the process, we are collecting your opinions now and a good proposal will come out." You cannot say that is bad in a democracy.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : But the market reacted rather poorly to it.
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is why the market also needs to adapt to such things.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : To the Lee Jae-myung administration's style?
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is right.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Understood. Meanwhile, as discussed earlier in the economy segment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport considered allowing—not mandating, but permitting at the owner's discretion—the installation of bathtubs in gosiwons (single-room micro-apartments), and decided to reconsider after facing backlash. Along with the youth commuter bus issue, it seems they fail completely to read the minds of people in their 20s and 30s. Why do you think these things keep happening?
 
[Park Ji-won] : They try to read them.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : It is not easy.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Even when they come up with an idea, it turned out to be a self-defeating one.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : A self-defeating idea?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Yes. So while they made a blunder, they should fix it now that it has been pointed out.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Understood. Recently, the hottest issue has been the selection of Supreme Court justices. The incident has already occurred. From the president's perspective, this situation needs to be resolved. What method do you think is best?
 
[Park Ji-won] : I know because I have done it before. People at the Supreme Court may say this and that, but originally, to nominate and recommend a Supreme Court justice, the presidential office and the National Court Administration coordinate in advance.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : You mean when you served in the Blue House under the DJ (Kim Dae-jung) administration?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Yes. In this morning's column by senior reporter Seong Han-yong in The Hankyoreh, various past examples were listed. Everyone did it.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Coordinating behind the scenes before making a final decision...
 
[Park Ji-won] : For instance, asking, "What do you think of Attorney Kim Tae-hyun for this Supreme Court seat?"
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Thank you.
 
[Park Ji-won] : And if they say, "That person was not great while serving as an SBS anchor..."
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : (Laughter) Eliminated.
 
[Park Ji-won] : (Laughter) He could be eliminated.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Yes.
 
[Park Ji-won] : You coordinate mutually to find good people. What is wrong with that? Democracy is about communicating and coordinating, which is a kind of customary practice. When there was talk of moving the capital from Seoul, didn't the Constitutional Court rule that Seoul is the capital based on customary constitutional law? What became problematic this time is that they broke with established precedent in an aberrant manner.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Both Democratic and conservative administrations have always done it that way.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Everyone did. I told you, I did it myself.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Why do you think Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae did not do that this time? In terms of outcome.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Well, I do not know that either.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Then an incident has occurred. It needs to be resolved now. What do you think is the best way to handle it?
 
[Park Ji-won] : I think re-recommendation is the way. The presidential office should reject the candidate who is deemed unacceptable—the one submitted earlier. If an agreement is reached on another nominee, send that person to the National Assembly for the appointment process.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Proceed with the appointment for one, and for the other?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Reject it.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Re-nomination?
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is why Seong Han-yong's Hankyoreh column this morning also stated that re-nomination is the answer. That is how it should be done.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : But looking at the re-nomination issue, it appears the presidential office wants Senior Judge Kim Min-gi.
 
[Park Ji-won] : If the person the presidential office wants is Senior Judge Kim Min-gi, they should coordinate with the National Court Administration. If the judiciary insists it absolutely cannot accept him, they should coordinate further. Deciding outright without any coordination means the Chief Justice is denying convention, the spirit of the law, and democracy.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : What about resetting all four candidates submitted by the Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee back to square one and restarting the entire recommendation process from the beginning?
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is also wrong. The Supreme Court called all the candidates to ask if they would withdraw...
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : To start over?
 
[Park Ji-won] : The fact that they asked whether candidates intend to resign is itself a wrongdoing by the Supreme Court. Why do they never acknowledge their own mistakes and only talk about that day and night? This is also becoming a major issue.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Understood. But regarding Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, Representative Kim Min-seok said last week, "Mr. Cho Hee-dae, please step down."
 
[Park Ji-won] : He should step down.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Then impeachment?
 
[Park Ji-won] : I also said at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that if he is going to act like that, he should leave. This is unacceptable. Look at this: when Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae overturned and remanded President Lee Jae-myung's appellate acquittal, he did so through the en banc court in just two days. He ignored procedural norms and damaged public trust in trials. As a lawyer yourself, you know well: if a judge hands down a sentence without reviewing the defendant's records, would that inspire confidence? Seventy thousand pages equals 600 books. Five hundred or six hundred volumes. How can anyone read through all that in just a few hours? They claim to have read it all, but as you well know, in court, only paper records constitute evidence. Saying they looked at electronic records does not count. And in fact, when our Democratic Party went to the Supreme Court to check, they had not even logged in.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Really?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Then isn't that a lie?
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : So you are calling on Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to resign. I understand his term runs until around June next year.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Whether it is June or next month, if you have committed wrongdoing, isn't stepping down the proper principle?
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Immediately? What do you consider the deadline?
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is right.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : You must have a deadline in mind. Step down by when?
 
[Park Ji-won] : No, I cannot speak about the Chief Justice so carelessly, but if he continues these wrongdoings, I believe stepping down is the right thing to do for the judiciary he loves, for the juniors he loves, and for his own honor as Chief Justice.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : But Lawmaker Park, you don't think Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae will simply step down willingly, do you?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Who knows? Public opinion will decide.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : If he does not step down, will it lead to impeachment?
 
[Park Ji-won] : It is true that impeachment is being reviewed.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Within the party?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Yes.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Not just the individual opinion of a few lawmakers.
 
[Park Ji-won] : I also said in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is an unprecedented chief justice.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Spokesperson Park Sung-joon also used that term yesterday, calling him an "unprecedented chief justice."
 
[Park Ji-won] : I coined that phrase.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : The original author is sitting right here.
 
[Park Ji-won] : He is an unprecedented chief justice. If he does not step down, what the National Assembly can do is impeachment. Whether the Constitutional Court accepts it or not is their prerogative. Even if it is just during that period, his duties would be suspended. What is the point of becoming a lame-duck chief justice?
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : There could be a benefit to suspending his duties.
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is right.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : But impeaching a chief justice could risk a political backlash.
 
[Park Ji-won] : We must not fear backlash. What we need is a chief justice who is just and leads the judiciary properly. Not a chief justice who disregards judicial procedures and everything else, ignoring established customs regarding Supreme Court nominations. Where in the law does it say only the people he wants must be appointed?
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Representative Kim Min-seok referred to him as "Mr. Cho Hee-dae" and called for hanging banners nationwide. How do you view that response? Some say it is too aggressive for a ruling party leader.
 
[Park Ji-won] : I think he did well. That is how we rally public opinion. It is an appeal to the public.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Have you hung them in your constituency as well?
 
[Park Ji-won] : I haven't hung them yet.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Do you plan to hang them?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Since party guidelines have been issued, I should hang them now. Everyone should hang them.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Understood. And Lawmaker Park, we should touch upon this: there are concerns regarding the police following the abolition of supplementary investigative authority. Now another incident involving a missing person has erupted in Jeju, raising worries over whether the police can be left as they are or trusted.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Seeing that, you can neither kill nor save this police force. Indeed, concerns have turned into reality, but since there is still an opportunity, I believe it is good to give the police a chance to renew their mindset and do well again. You can't just kill them or let them off entirely.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Shouldn't the ruling party come up with fundamental reform measures for this?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Pardon?
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Whenever an incident occurs, they conduct a full inspection, punish those responsible, and then do nothing until another incident occurs and conduct another inspection. I mean preventing incidents from happening in the first place.
 
[Park Ji-won] : We must ensure incidents do not happen. Once the new system is established, the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials must continuously supervise and spur them to perform properly.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Understood. Former lawmaker Noh Woong-rae was acquitted. This was upheld through the second-instance appellate court. President Lee then posted a statement on social media that looked like an apology, saying, "Senior, I am sorry I could not nominate you because of this." Why do you think the president released that statement?
 
[Park Ji-won] : Why do you call him "former lawmaker Noh Woong-rae"? If it weren't for Han Dong-hoon, he would be a sitting lawmaker.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Officially, he is a former lawmaker.
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is what is so wrong. Minister Han Dong-hoon explained it by saying he even heard the rustling sound of counting money.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : During the arrest motion debate.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Yes, during the motion for arrest consent. So I said back then: I have given a lot of money and received a lot of money, but I have never heard a rustling sound. Does that make any sense? If he had such concrete evidence, why was Noh acquitted in the first trial and acquitted in the second trial?
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Yes.
 
[Park Ji-won] : And wasn't President Lee Jae-myung the party leader at the time?
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : That is right.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Therefore, having excluded him from nomination in the name of reform nominations, how apologetic he must feel! Lawmaker Han Dong-hoon now says, "Let's listen to the rustling sound"? What kind of talk is that? He should take responsibility, admit he was wrong, and apologize.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Then Lawmaker Park, since former lawmaker Noh Woong-rae has not left the party, will he be reinstated in the next general election?
 
[Park Ji-won] : That is a matter for the leadership to decide, not for me.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Because Committee Chair Lee Ji-eun is in that constituency...
 
[Park Ji-won] : Regardless, even calling him a "former lawmaker" makes us feel truly sorry. I have stayed in touch with Lawmaker Noh Woong-rae, and while I feel very apologetic, whether to give him a nomination next time is a matter to be decided by the new leadership. If I were the one with nominating authority, I would give it to him.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : If you had the nominating authority, you would give it. Understood.
 
[Park Ji-won] : I do not hold nominating authority.
 
[Kim Tae-hyun] : Understood. We will wrap up here. This was Lawmaker Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party of Korea. Thank you.
 
[Park Ji-won] : Thank you.

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