The Supreme Court has informed the National Assembly that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and the Supreme Court justices will not attend the hearing scheduled to be held at the National Assembly on the 14th.
On the afternoon of the 12th, the Supreme Court submitted a "statement of opinion regarding the request for attendance at the hearing" to the National Assembly. A Supreme Court official stated, "Our position is that it is inappropriate for judges to attend hearings related to ongoing trials."
Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is attending the Supreme Court ruling on the appeal trial of the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act at the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Photo by Yonhap News
Previously, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee decided to hold a hearing on the 14th to investigate allegations of presidential election interference, and selected Chief Justice Cho and Justices Oh Seokjun, Shin Sookhee, Eom Sangpil, Seo Kyunghwan, Kwon Youngjun, Noh Kyungpil, Park Youngjae, Lee Sookyeon, Ma Yongju, Lee Heunggu, and Oh Kyungmi as witnesses. The Chief Senior Judicial Researcher, Senior Judicial Researcher, Chief Justice's Chief Secretary, and the Director of Judicial Informatization at the Court Administration Office were also called as witnesses.
The Democratic Party, which is leading the push for the hearing, views the Supreme Court's decision on the 1st to remand Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate's violation of the Public Official Election Act case for a guilty verdict, as an attempt to interfere in the presidential election. The party plans to scrutinize the entire process of the Supreme Court's ruling.
It has been reported that all Supreme Court-affiliated judges, including Chief Justice Cho, the 11 justices, the Chief and Senior Judicial Researchers, the Chief Justice's Chief Secretary, and the Director of Judicial Informatization at the Court Administration Office, who were requested to attend by the National Assembly, have conveyed their intention not to appear at the hearing. This decision appears to be based on concerns that having the Chief Justice and justices attend the hearing and answer questions regarding the ruling could undermine the independence of the judiciary.
The fact that Lee Jae-myung's trial is still ongoing is also cited as a reason for their non-attendance. If the justices were to attend the hearing and comment on the ruling, it could directly influence the retrial currently underway at the Seoul High Court.
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