[Anchor]

In the wake of the appellate court's acquittal of Seoul Mayor Oh Sehun, voices calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae are growing even louder within the broader ruling camp. The Democratic Party claims that another ground for impeachment has been added following his refusal of a re-recommendation, but the People Power Party strongly criticized the push as nonsensical.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin reports.

[Reporter]

This morning (October 26), at the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting.

Starting with Party Leader Kim Min-seok, questions were raised about the fairness of Mayor Oh Sehun's trial.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leader: "Which citizen would accept a reality where verdicts of guilt or innocence and the severity of sentences for major cases are drastically overturned according to political yardsticks?"]

Floor Leader Han Byung-do directly demanded that the Supreme Court rectify the ruling on Mayor Oh.

There was even a call for introducing AI judges.

[Choi Minhee / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "I believe the remaining judicial reform is the introduction of AI judges. I will examine this thoroughly and prepare legislation."]

Not only the Rebuilding Korea Party, but also Candlelight Action, a civic group that has spearheaded prosecution reform, pressured lawmakers to follow through with the impeachment.

[Yeom Mi-rye / Co-leader of Gangseo-Yeongdeungpo Candlelight Action: "Failing to impeach Cho Hee-dae is a dereliction of duty by the National Assembly. The public will never forgive the National Assembly's dereliction of duty."]

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, where the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho had been brought up throughout the parliamentary audit, also clashed even more fiercely following the ruling on Mayor Oh.

To the Democratic Party's assertion that grounds for impeachment have increased following Mayor Oh's ruling, the People Power Party countered that it was nonsensical.

[Kwak Kyu-taek / People Power Party Lawmaker: "Saying that grounds to impeach the Chief Justice have increased just because Seoul Mayor Oh Sehun was acquitted? Are you completely out of your mind? Shouldn't you first be demanding why the case regarding President Lee Jae-myung isn't being tried swiftly?"]

[Yoon Sang-hyun / People Power Party Lawmaker: "Whenever a ruling from the Supreme Court or other courts does not go the way you want, are you going to impeach Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae every single time? 'Impeachment, no matter what'—doesn't this truly undermine the independence of the judiciary?"]

The Democratic Party plans to continue discussions on impeachment at a general meeting of its lawmakers tomorrow (October 27).

Mayor Oh Sehun, visibly unburdened following his second-instance acquittal, is broadening his outreach both inside and outside the party.

After greeting the People Power Party leadership at a memorial service for former President Park Chung-hee this morning, he plans to host dinners today and tomorrow, inviting several opposition lawmakers to his official residence.

With the dinner guest list including not only People Power Party lawmakers but also Reform Party Lawmaker Lee Joon-seok, observers view this as Mayor Oh taking serious steps toward conservative unity.

(Video by Oh Young-choon, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Park Seon-soo)