Motion Passed to Adopt Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae as Audit Witness; "Never Enraged"

[Anchor]

Led by the Democratic Party, Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae has been adopted as a witness for the parliamentary audit starting next week. Regarding allegations raised by the ruling bloc that Chief Justice Cho dismissed an internal Supreme Court recommendation to accept the request for re-nomination of a Supreme Court justice in a fit of rage, the Minister of National Court Administration stated that this was not true.

Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

At the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee today (September 28).

The ruling and opposition parties clashed over whether to summon Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae as a witness for the parliamentary audit.

[Park Hyung-soo / People Power Party Lawmaker: "How can a country that intimidates the head of the judiciary to save President Lee Jae-myung be called a civilized nation?"]

[Kim Ki-pyo / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "It would be right to ask, 'Why did you reject the re-nomination?'"]

With People Power Party lawmakers walking out, pro-government lawmakers passed a motion to adopt him as a witness, saying they need to hear directly from Chief Justice Cho the reasons for refusing the re-nomination of a Supreme Court justice.

Noh Kyung-pil, Minister of the National Court Administration, stated regarding the Blue House's official letter requesting a re-nomination that "the interpretation of whether the nomination was returned or not remains unclear."

[Park Gyun-taek / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "Didn't they express the intent not to appoint?"]

[Noh Kyung-pil / Minister of National Court Administration: "Whether the nomination was returned was not clear."]

[Park Gyun-taek / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "No, please explain it in a way that can be understood."]

[Kim Eui-kyeom / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "I think 90% of our people will not understand well. Please explain it a bit more easily."]

[Noh Kyung-pil / Minister of National Court Administration: "There are aspects that are difficult to speak about."]

Minister Noh drew a line regarding the allegations raised by the ruling bloc that "the National Court Administration recommended accepting the re-nomination, but Chief Justice Cho dismissed it in fury," saying:

[Noh Kyung-pil / Minister of National Court Administration: "It was not rage; he did not get angry at all."]

He explained that the National Court Administration reported four options—including refusing re-nomination, reconstituting the recommendation committee, or re-nominating from among existing candidates—and that Chief Justice Cho made the final decision.

Chief Justice Cho responded as follows on his way to work today when asked about the reason for refusing the re-nomination:

[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: "I heard that you have many questions because only the conclusion was provided. I will share those details going forward through the parliamentary audit or other occasions."]

The parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court will be conducted on October 6, and with Chief Justice Cho adopted as a general witness, he faces criminal liability for perjury under oath, as well as the burden of potential legal complaints if he fails to appear.

(Video by Oh Young-chun and Lee Seung-hwan | Video Editing by Yoon Tae-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.