Investigate All Allegations Against Cho Hee-dae? Sparks Debate Over 'Infringing on Judicial Power'

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The Democratic Party, which is pushing for the first-ever parliamentary investigation into a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, has begun full-scale preparations. While the party plans to look into all allegations surrounding Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, concerns are emerging that the move could spark controversy over infringing on judicial power depending on the matters 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 / Floor Leader, Democratic Party : (It must be clearly revealed) before the public whether the judiciary maintained political neutrality and fulfilled its responsibilities endowed by the Constitution.]

The Democratic Party maintains the position that it will directly summon Chief Justice Cho to question the facts.

The party plans to examine all allegations concerning Chief Justice Cho, ranging from the refusal of re-recommendations and alleged misappropriation of business operation expenses to suspicions of cooperation during the emergency martial law.

[Seo Mi-hwa / Supreme Council Member, Democratic Party : It must be made clear whether he fulfilled the duty of defending the Constitution during the December 3 insurrection....]

The party is also reviewing whether to include as a subject of investigation the Supreme Court's overturn and remand of the election law case involving President Lee Jae-myung right before the last presidential election, which ignited the conflict between the ruling bloc and the Cho Hee-dae judiciary.

However, amid criticism over undermining the separation of powers, public opinion—which remains unfavorable toward pressuring the judiciary—is a burden.

A survey conducted over two days starting on October 26 by the Korea Society Opinion Institute also showed that 50.3% opposed impeaching Chief Justice Cho, 18.3 percentage points higher than those in favor.

While Chief Justice Cho has not released an official stance on the parliamentary investigation, he has denied all related allegations.

[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (on October 6) : When the martial law command asked, 'Please dispatch personnel, or at least send a list of names,' I instructed, 'This is an entirely unconstitutional act, so do not send anyone, nor should a list be provided.']

Amid growing controversy within the legal community over whether a parliamentary investigation into the Supreme Court Chief Justice is appropriate, criticisms are also emerging that the case involving the overturn and remand of President Lee's election law case is particularly inappropriate as a subject of investigation since trial proceedings are ongoing.

[Han Sang-hie / Professor Emeritus, Konkuk University Law School : Everything from scheduling court dates to referring a case to the en banc court pertains to judicial trials, so it carries a strong potential to violate constitutional values such as the separation of powers and judicial independence.]

The People Power Party emphasized that it would mobilize all means, including a filibuster, to block what it called an unconstitutional parliamentary investigation.

The Democratic Party plans to first sufficiently inform the public of the problems within the Cho Hee-dae judiciary through the parliamentary investigation before deciding whether to proceed with impeachment.

(Reported by Oh Young-choon and Kim Yong-woo | Video by Park Seon-soo | Graphics by Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.