[Anchor]

Conflict between the ruling bloc and the judiciary continues over the nomination of Supreme Court justices. The Democratic Party has even warned of legal action against Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae for refusing to attend the National Assembly. It also pressured the court to exclude candidate Sohn Bong-ki, whose appointment was rejected by President Lee Jae-myung, and to submit a new nomination from the remaining three candidates.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Lawmakers of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee belonging to the pan-ruling bloc held a press briefing yesterday (the 30th), over the weekend, pressuring Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae—who announced he would not attend today's National Assembly pending issues session—stating that "attending the National Assembly is a natural duty."

[Kim Seung-won / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Is only Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's authority constitutional, while the authority of the President and the National Assembly is not a constitutional authority?]

Chief Justice Cho stated on the 28th that "forcing testimony regarding the exercise of the nomination power for Supreme Court justices, which is an independent constitutional authority, goes against judicial independence." In response, the pan-ruling committee members argued that "the Chief Justice is not an emperor," claiming it was a violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly.

[Seo Young-gyo / 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.]

Responding to the Cheong Wa Dae's request for re-nomination, the ruling bloc also set a specific scope, pressuring the Chief Justice to nominate "one out of the other three" candidates, excluding candidate Sohn Bong-ki who had already been nominated.

This is aimed at preventing the court from forming a new recommendation committee for Supreme Court justices and restarting the nomination process from scratch.

The People Power Party criticized this, stating, "They are trying to shop for Supreme Court justices to their liking," and launched into a defense of the judiciary, calling it "the destruction of the separation of powers and an attempt to seize control of the judiciary."

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

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

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