Judicial Reform Plan Also Announced
On the 17th, Cho Kuk, emergency response committee chairman of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, publicly disclosed the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, stating, "Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae has gravely damaged popular sovereignty, representative democracy, and the constitutional order by intervening in the presidential election and abusing his authority."
Cho Kuk, emergency response committee chairman of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party (center in the photo), and others attended the joint meeting of the "Going to the End" special committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 17th. They publicly disclosed the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and announced judicial reform plans, then took a commemorative photo. Photo by Moon Hyewon, Asia Economy
Chairman Cho convened a joint meeting of the emergency committee and the "Going to the End" special committee at the Innovation Party meeting room in the main building of the National Assembly that morning. He declared, "The Cho Kuk Innovation Party will fully uncover the truth about the Supreme Court's collusion with forces seeking to prolong insurrection and hold those responsible to account."
Chairman Cho stated, "Under Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, the Supreme Court attempted to disqualify the presidential candidate (Lee Jaemyung, then the leading candidate) who was highly likely to win the election, and tried to push the democratic camp to the point where they could not even mention their candidate." He pointed out, "This coincides with the Supreme Court's en banc decision on May 1 to remand the public official election law violation case of Lee Jaemyung, followed by former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo announcing his presidential candidacy on May 2."
He emphasized, "The essence of the public's anger toward the judiciary right now is a fundamental distrust of Cho Hee-dae's judiciary," adding, "This crisis, which the Supreme Court brought upon itself, originated from Chief Justice Cho's intervention in the presidential election."
He continued, "The Cho Kuk Innovation Party will fully uncover the truth about the Supreme Court's collusion with forces seeking to prolong insurrection and hold those responsible to account. The impeached, Cho Hee-dae, gravely damaged and abused the constitutional order-including popular sovereignty, representative democracy, and the principles of a substantive rule-of-law state-through his ruling that intervened in the presidential election."
Suh Wangjin, floor leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, specifically disclosed three grounds for impeachment. Floor Leader Suh argued, "The Supreme Court's ruling in the Lee Jaemyung presidential public official election law violation case infringed on the right to a fair trial."
He also stated, "Chief Justice Cho violated the duty of political neutrality and infringed on the right to free election campaigning." Floor Leader Suh explained, "It is inevitable to conclude that there was a meticulous, premeditated plan to influence the June 3 presidential election by infringing on the right of Lee Jaemyung, then a leading presidential candidate, to hold public office. By decisively regressing the freedom of political expression and freedom of election campaigning-which the Supreme Court had actively protected-the Court gravely violated the constitutional rights of the defendant and the public."
However, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party cannot impeach the Chief Justice on its own. The impeachment of a judge requires the consent of at least one-third (100 or more) of the National Assembly members. With only 12 seats, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party needs the support of other pro-government parties.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is distancing itself from the impeachment. Park Soo-hyun, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party, explained, "The Democratic Party's stance on Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and the judiciary is to apply pressure in order to receive two clear answers from the judiciary and Chief Justice Cho. First, as the head of the judiciary, Chief Justice Cho must clearly address public concerns and ensure that the trial of Ji Guyon for insurrection is not delayed as a 'bed trial,' which could result in former President Yoon Suk-yeol being released again early next year. Second, he must explain to the public why the Supreme Court's remand of the public official election law appeal for President Lee Jaemyung was carried out with such unprecedented speed."
On the same day, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party also announced its judicial reform plan, stating, "The Innovation Party will reform the judiciary of the Republic of Korea into a Supreme Court without Cho Hee-dae and a bench without Ji Guyon."
Specifically, the plan includes: immediate establishment of a National Assembly special committee on judicial reform; creation of an independent inspection body not under the direction of the Chief Justice; abolition of the Court Administration Office and establishment of a Judicial Administration Committee; introduction of a judicial appeal system; establishment of consumer and labor courts; increase in the number of Supreme Court justices to 31; full disclosure of court rulings; AI case law recommendation services; promotion of the AI legal services industry; introduction of class action and punitive damages systems; appointment of experienced judges; restrictions on electronic information searches and seizures; and improvements to the citizen participation trial system.
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