Calls to "Impeach Cho Hee-dae" Reignited by Oh Sehun's Acquittal

[Anchor]

Linking Seoul Mayor Oh Sehun's acquittal in an appellate trial to Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, arguments calling for the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho are gaining momentum within the ruling bloc. The National Court Administration stated that all court benches make independent judgments, while the People Power Party criticized the move, asking whether any ruling they dislike should lead to impeachment.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin reports.

[Reporter]

Yesterday morning (October 26) at the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting.

Party Leader Kim Min-seok raised questions about the fairness of Mayor Oh Sehun's trial from the outset.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leader: "What citizen would accept a reality where guilt, innocence, and sentencing in major cases are drastically reversed depending on political yardsticks?"]

Floor Leader Han Byung-do directly demanded that the Supreme Court rectify the ruling on Mayor Oh.

There were even calls to introduce AI judges.

[Choi Minhee / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "I believe the remaining judicial reform is the introduction of AI judges. I will examine this thoroughly and prepare legislation."]

The Rebuilding Korea Party, along with Candlelight Action, a civic group that has spearheaded prosecutorial reform, also pressured the party to put the impeachment into action.

[Yeom Mi-rye / Co-representative, Gangseo-Yeongdeungpo Candlelight Action: "Not impeaching Cho Hee-dae is a dereliction of duty by the National Assembly. The people will never forgive the National Assembly's dereliction of duty."]

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, where the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho was repeatedly raised throughout the parliamentary audit, clashed even more fiercely following Mayor Oh's ruling.

To the Democratic Party's claim that the grounds for impeachment have increased due to Mayor Oh's ruling, the People Power Party countered that it was senseless.

[Gwak Gyu-taek / People Power Party Lawmaker: "That an acquittal for Seoul Mayor Oh Sehun increases the grounds to impeach the Chief Justice? Are you completely out of your minds? Why aren't you asking why the trial regarding President Lee Jae-myung isn't moving faster? Wouldn't protesting that first be the right thing to do?"]

[Yoon Sang-hyun / People Power Party Lawmaker: "Are you going to impeach Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae every time you don't get the court or Supreme Court ruling you want? Concluding everything with impeachment—doesn't this truly undermine the independence of the judiciary?"]

The Democratic Party plans to continue discussions on impeachment at its general meeting of lawmakers today.

Mayor Oh Sehun, feeling much lighter after the second-trial acquittal, is expanding his outreach both inside and outside the party.

Yesterday morning, he exchanged greetings with the People Power Party leadership at a memorial service for former President Park Chung-hee, and following yesterday, he plans to host a dinner tonight inviting several opposition lawmakers to his official residence.

With not only People Power Party lawmakers but also Representative Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party attending the dinner, interpretations suggest Mayor Oh has embarked on a full-fledged move toward conservative unity.

(Video by Oh Young-choon and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Jang Hyun-ki)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.