[Anchor]

The rift between the ruling bloc and the judiciary is deepening over the nomination of a Supreme Court justice. The Democratic Party has warned of legal action against Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae for refusing to attend the National Assembly. It also pressured him to re-nominate one of the three other candidates previously recommended by the Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Members of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee belonging to the pan-ruling bloc held a press conference today (the 30th), a weekend, and pressured Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae—who announced he would not attend tomorrow's parliamentary pending issues session—stating that attending the National Assembly is a natural duty.

[Kim Seung-won / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Is only Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's authority constitutional, while the powers of the president and the National Assembly are not constitutional powers?]

The day before yesterday, Chief Justice Cho cited the reason that "testifying regarding the exercise of the right to nominate Supreme Court justices, which is an independent constitutional authority, runs counter to the independence of the judiciary." In response, the pan-ruling committee members argued that "the chief justice is not an emperor," claiming a violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly.

[Seo Young-kyo / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Do you just not show up because you do not want to? You must attend. If you do not attend, we will hold you accountable for the crime of non-attendance.]

In accordance with the Cheong Wa Dae's request for re-nomination, the ruling bloc also set a specific scope and applied pressure, demanding that the chief justice choose "one of the other three" candidates—excluding Son Bong-gi, the previously nominated candidate—for re-nomination.

This is interpreted as a move to prevent a new Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee from being formed to restart the nomination process from scratch.

The People Power Party criticized this, saying, "They are trying to shop for Supreme Court justices to their liking," and stepped up to criticize the pan-ruling bloc and defend the judiciary.

[Yoon Sang-hyun / People Power Party Lawmaker: I believe that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is someone who has most conscientiously respected the Constitution and laws. How can you summon such a person to the National Assembly Judiciary Committee chairman and question them?]

Chief Justice Cho has announced that he will sort out matters such as whether to recompose the recommendation committee within this week, raising the likelihood that the conflict between the pan-ruling bloc and the judiciary will further intensify.

(Video by: Shin Dong-hwan, Video Editing by: Choi Jin-hwa)