Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok ordered the party Thursday to hang banners nationwide reading "Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae, destroyer of the rule of law, must step down." Kim is pictured after paying his respects at the grave of former Democratic Party senior adviser Kim Keun-tae at Moran Park in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, posing for a photo with the late adviser's wife, former lawmaker In Jae-geun. [Yonhap]
Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok ordered the party Thursday to hang banners nationwide reading "Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae, destroyer of the rule of law, must step down." Kim is pictured after paying his respects at the grave of former Democratic Party senior adviser Kim Keun-tae at Moran Park in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, posing for a photo with the late adviser's wife, former lawmaker In Jae-geun. [Yonhap]

The political fallout from Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae's written nomination of two new Supreme Court justices continued to widen Thursday, with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea escalating its attacks on Jo and vowing to review the justice appointment process, while opposition parties fired back, accusing the ruling camp of undermining the separation of powers.

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said Thursday he had issued the party's first directive under newly appointed publicity chief Kim Nam-jun: to hang banners across the country reading "Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae, destroyer of the rule of law, must step down." Kim made the remarks to reporters after paying his respects at the grave of former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan in Sejong.

Kim had already sharply criticized Jo on Wednesday at a supreme council meeting in Busan, condemning the chief justice for submitting the justice nominations to President Lee Jae Myung in writing rather than in person.

Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do also weighed in at a policy coordination meeting at the National Assembly on Thursday. "The problem is not the nomination itself, but the process and intent — delaying it for 209 days without any explanation, then pushing it through without a single word of consultation with the person holding the appointment authority," Han said. "It appears Chief Justice Jo's clock runs not on law and principle, but on political calculation."

Han said the appointment of Supreme Court justices under Article 104 of the Constitution is "a joint undertaking of all three branches — requiring the chief justice's nomination, the Assembly's consent, and the president's appointment." He added that the Democratic Party would "carefully examine the institutional safeguards needed to ensure the appointment process is not subject to the arbitrary judgment of a single chief justice."

The Rebuilding Korea Party also joined the offensive against Jo. Supreme council member Kim Hyeong-yeon said at a council meeting that court administration chief Noh Gyeong-pil had told the Assembly on Wednesday that "each institution simply needs to exercise its own authority" — a remark Kim called "truly arrogant." "This is not the rule of law; it is the judiciary imposing its own self-serving interpretation of the law," Kim said.

Opposition parties pushed back. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said Kim Min-seok's first act upon taking office — calling for the chief justice's impeachment — "makes it abundantly clear why President Lee went to such extraordinary lengths to install him as party leader." Jang defended Jo, saying that if the chief justice had submitted the nominations without prior coordination with the presidential office, "that is precisely what judicial independence looks like."

Jang then urged that if Jo and the judiciary had resolved to defend their independence, "they should start by resuming President Lee's trial."

Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok also weighed in, saying the ruling camp's argument that Jo had been discourteous for submitting nominations in writing without meeting the president — and that he "should have consulted with the president" — ignored a basic reality. "What criminal defendant would dare have a say in selecting the Supreme Court justices who will try him?" Lee said. "The president serves a five-year term; Supreme Court justices serve six. The justices being appointed now will handle the cases of the very person who appointed them after that person leaves office. No one can be a judge in their own case."

Lee added that "the principle of not touching the trial you are about to receive is older than any convention the ruling party cares to cite."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday, at the ruling party's initiative, to summon Chief Justice Jo to appear before a plenary session.

Committee chair Seo Yeong-gyo of the Democratic Party said the hearing was intended to question Jo about "what transpired during the prolonged vacancy in nominating Supreme Court justice candidates, and the reasons why the cases involving Kim Keon Hee, Han Duck-soo and Lee Sang-min were referred to the Supreme Court's en banc panel."

Kim Seung-won, the Democratic Party's floor whip on the committee, told reporters at a briefing immediately after the plenary session that when asked whether the party or the committee was pursuing Jo's impeachment, he said "establishing the detailed facts comes first."

Asked whether the committee would issue a compulsory appearance order if Jo refused to attend, Kim said, "We haven't gotten that far yet." Under current law, a standing committee may vote to issue a compulsory appearance order against a witness who fails to appear before the Assembly without justifiable cause, and may file a criminal complaint if the order is defied.


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