"Supreme Court, Faster Than ChatGPT at Speed-Reading?"... Democratic Party Pushes for Cho Hee-dae Hearing and Special Probe

Cautious Approach to Impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae
National Judgment Should Be Made Through Answers to 'Questions'
Distrust in the Judiciary Revealed, Special Rebellion Court Mentioned

On May 4, the Democratic Party of Korea indicated the possibility of holding a confirmation hearing, a parliamentary investigation, and a special prosecutor probe regarding Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. However, the party expressed a cautious stance on the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho. The Democratic Party revealed its distrust toward the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, and suggested the possibility of establishing a special court in connection with the rebellion trials related to former President Yoon Suk-yeol's emergency martial law and other incidents.

Kim Minseok, Co-Chairman of the Democratic Party's Election Countermeasures Committee, and others stated during a press briefing at the National Assembly on this day that the Supreme Court must clarify its position regarding the Public Official Election Act case involving Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung. The Supreme Court, in an unusually swift manner, returned the case for retrial with a guilty verdict in mind. The Democratic Party raised concerns that legal procedures may have been violated in this process.

Kim Minseok, Co-Chairman of the Democratic Party's Election Countermeasures Committee, is speaking at a press briefing held at the National Assembly on the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News

Kim stated, "The people are asking Chief Justice Cho," and questioned, "Did you read all the electronic document records?" He continued, "Did you discuss the dissenting opinion and deliberations, which were longer than the majority opinion?" and added, "Was it not a procedural and legal flaw to refer the case directly to the full bench without a preliminary panel review?" He further asked, "Was it not illegal for the court to make factual determinations beyond legal judgments?" and "Is there any precedent for overturning a second-instance ruling without changing the legal precedent?" Kim remarked, "The criticism that this is a judicial coup and judicial terrorism, aiming to eliminate Lee Jaemyung?whom they could not kill with a knife attack or martial law?through judicial murder and ensure an uncontested victory for the People Power Party, is emerging," and questioned, "Can you refute the claims of Yoon Suk-yeol's first rebellion, Han Duck-soo and Choi Sang-mok's second rebellion, and Cho Hee-dae's third rebellion?" After raising this series of questions, Kim stated, "A confirmation hearing, parliamentary investigation, and special prosecutor probe regarding Chief Justice Cho are necessary."

However, Kim refrained from making comments regarding the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho, which has been raised within the party. The previous day, 'The Mincho,' a gathering of first-term Democratic Party lawmakers, held a press conference and stated, "The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Cho, has conducted excessive procedures and made biased judgments that directly contradict the public’s legal sensibilities and common sense," and declared, "We will immediately initiate impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Cho." Regarding these internal party voices, Kim said, "The party leadership has not officially formulated a position on this matter." He added, "If the Supreme Court responds to the various procedural flaws and other issues, we will make a decision; if they do not respond, we will still make a decision." Separately from the party's official stance, Kim, speaking in his personal capacity, said, "The public is curious whether the feat of reading all 60,000 pages of records with speed-reading skills surpassing ChatGPT is true," and added, "If the ten Supreme Court justices, including the Chief Justice, cannot provide an explanation, they should publicly apologize and resign."

Regarding the possibility of the Supreme Court making a final ruling before the presidential election, Kim said, "It is generally expected that, no matter how much the process is expedited, it will be difficult to conclude before June 3," but added, "However, since the Supreme Court has demonstrated an almost miraculous ability to expedite proceedings, it is difficult for us to predict what will happen."

Kim expressed distrust toward the judiciary and mentioned the possibility of establishing a 'special rebellion court.' In response to reporters' questions, he said, "There are international precedents for establishing special courts," but also noted, "This should be subject to national debate," thus only indicating the possibility at this stage. Referring to the decision to cancel the detention of former President Yoon, he pointed out, "Amid high public concern, there is a rapidly growing fear that these issues may further expand to the Supreme Court."

Kim also called for a swift investigation into Han Duck-soo, an independent preliminary candidate who resigned as acting president to run in the presidential election. He said, "The prosecution and the National Election Commission should arrest and investigate those who violated the election law and abused their authority by using the position of Prime Minister to conduct pre-election activities and mobilize public officials for election preparations, and should search the Prime Minister’s Office."