Pushing for a Cho Hee-dae Supreme Court Hearing
Legislation to Block Court Intervention in Elections
As the first trial date for the remanded case of Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act has been set for the 15th, the Democratic Party is intensifying its all-out pressure on the judiciary. The party has hinted that it may pursue the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae if the trial is not postponed or canceled until after the presidential election.
Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is appealing for support on the 6th at Jeungpyeong Jangtteul Market in Jeungpyeong County, Chungbuk, during his "Listening Tour in Every Alley: National Land Traverse Edition." Photo by Yonhap News
Yoon Yeojoon, the chief executive of the election campaign committee, said at the Central Election Countermeasures Committee meeting held at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 7th, "Currently, procedures that the public has never heard of are being applied only to a leading presidential candidate," and added, "(The judiciary) must change the trial date scheduled during the presidential campaign period. The Supreme Court must clearly state that there will be no intervention in the presidential election."
Park Chan-dae, the chief executive of the election campaign committee, criticized, "The Cho Hee-dae judicial coup is an attempt at judicial murder to eliminate the most prominent presidential candidate," and added, "It is a judicial rebellion attempting to change the outcome through the intervention of political judges." He continued, "The Democratic Party is prepared to use all powers and means granted by law to prevent political judges from intervening in the presidential election and to block the activities of rebellious forces. We will activate the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee to pursue a hearing on the Cho Hee-dae Supreme Court, and we are also preparing legal amendments to prevent court intervention in elections."
Democratic Party lawmakers will hold a series of press conferences in front of the Seoul High Court, which is in charge of the remanded trial, until the first trial date, launching a public campaign. The Democratic Party also announced plans to unilaterally pass an amendment to the Public Official Election Act, under which Lee is indicted. On this day, the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting and delete the term "act" from Article 250 of the Public Official Election Act, which defines the requirements for the publication of false information.
Previously, Park Beomgye, head of the Central Election Committee’s Fair Election Law Support Group and a Democratic Party lawmaker, said the previous day that the Supreme Court’s decision to remand Lee’s Public Official Election Act case with a guilty verdict "constitutes grounds for impeachment of the Chief Justice," and criticized it as "a hasty political intervention, election interference, and a targeted trial."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
