[Anchor]

The parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court, which ran late into the night yesterday (October 6), concluded without finding a clear solution to resolve the vacancy among Supreme Court justices amid the ongoing dispute over the refusal to re-nominate a candidate. The ruling party pressured Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae by demanding his resignation, while Chief Justice Cho stood firm on his position that demanding a re-nomination infringes upon his constitutional authority.

Kim Kwan-jin reports.

[Reporter]

The parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court was held at the National Assembly last night.

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who had left during an afternoon recess, returned to the audit chamber around 10:50 p.m. to deliver his closing remarks.

He expressed regret for causing inconvenience and concern to the public due to the vacancy on the Supreme Court bench.

[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Last night): "I will make every necessary effort so that the Supreme Court can be fully constituted."]

During the morning audit session, Chief Justice Cho drew a firm line against President Lee Jae-myung's demand for a re-nomination, emphasizing his constitutional authority.

[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Yesterday morning): "Neither the National Assembly nor the president can intervene in any way in the Chief Justice's nomination."]

In the afternoon as well, he reiterated his existing stance in response to the final question inquiring about a solution to the Supreme Court vacancy crisis.

[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Last night): "I will replace my answer with what I stated this morning."]

The audit concluded with sharp criticism directed at Chief Justice Cho by the ruling party.

[Seo Young-kyo / Chair of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Democratic Party Lawmaker): "So that is how the Chief Justice thought, trying to place himself above the president; how utterly arrogant."]

Today, the ruling party urged Chief Justice Cho to resign.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leader: "Stepping down on his own accord is the final duty of a Chief Justice, who ought to be a symbol of integrity."]

The opposition hit back, arguing that the ruling party was intimidating a Chief Justice who was exercising his constitutional nomination authority, and asserted that the audit had degraded into "mob lynching."

[Jeong Jeom-sig / People Power Party Floor Leader: "If you intend to destroy the separation of powers through verbal abuse and intimidation, you might as well impeach the Chief Justice instead."]

Amid the prolonged vacancy on the Supreme Court bench, Chief Justice Cho appeared before the National Assembly to answer lawmakers' questions for the first time, but the session merely reaffirmed an unyielding, parallel standoff, with the broader ruling bloc asserting the president's appointment power and the judiciary standing on the Chief Justice's nomination authority.

With political coordination gone from this power struggle, the burden of the judicial vacuum falls squarely upon the public.

(Video by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Wi Won-yang)