The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee holds a plenary session on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee holds a plenary session on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to summon Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae, with the Democratic Party of Korea leading the push, amid Jo's submission of written nominations for two Supreme Court justice candidates.

At the committee's plenary session, Kim Seung-won, a Democratic Party lawmaker serving as the party's floor manager on the panel, submitted the motion to require Jo's attendance. The committee said it wanted to question him on "the process of nominating Supreme Court justice candidates after a prolonged vacancy and the controversy over referring insurrection cases to the full bench."

Seo Yeong-gyo, the Democratic Party lawmaker chairing the committee, said the session was intended "to ask what happened during the nomination process for Supreme Court justices who had been vacant for an extended period, and to inquire into the reasons the trials of Kim Keon Hee, Han Duck-soo and Lee Sang-min were referred to the Supreme Court's full bench."

The motion passed 10-4, with 14 members present. Democratic Party lawmakers and other members of the ruling bloc voted in favor, while People Power Party lawmakers voted against.

"Every time the National Assembly has tried to call the chief justice, he has refused on the grounds that the matters were under trial," said Kim Yong-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker. "But nominating justices is a matter of judicial administration. There are no longer any grounds to refuse."

The People Power Party pushed back, arguing that the power to nominate Supreme Court justices is the chief justice's exclusive prerogative and that there is no reason for him to nominate a specific candidate at the president's behest.

"Cheong Wa Dae abused its authority by interfering in the nomination process, and now they are pinning the blame on the chief justice who exercised that power legitimately," said Ju Jin-woo, a People Power Party lawmaker. "This is legislative tyranny — something deeply shameful before the public."


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