The Democratic Party of Korea is stepping up pressure on Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae after he submitted written nominations for Supreme Court justices without prior consultation with Cheong Wa Dae. Even as voices of caution have emerged within the party over whether to pursue impeachment, the Democratic Party is also laying the groundwork for sweeping judicial reform.
Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok opened that front Monday, announcing plans to amend the law governing the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee. Speaking at a supreme council meeting, Kim said some analysts say Chief Justice Jo's intent is "to have the government reject a unilateral proposal made without consultation with President Lee Jae-myung, thereby neutralizing the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee itself."
Kim called on the government to hold off on forwarding the nominations to the National Assembly or returning them to the court. He also urged the Assembly to close what he described as a legal loophole in Article 41-2 of the Court Organization Act — a provision that requires a new recommendation committee to be formed each time the chief justice nominates a justice candidate. "The Assembly should consider amending that legal blind spot to block such maneuvering," he said.
The Court Organization Act stipulates that a Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee be established at the Supreme Court to recommend candidates for the chief justice to nominate. The provision was designed as a check on the chief justice's nomination power, and the Democratic Party contends that Chief Justice Jo has sought to undermine it.
Political observers say the controversy over the alleged neutralization of the recommendation committee — and Jo's role in it — could become a new flashpoint driving impeachment efforts. The Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, led by the Democratic Party, had already voted to summon Chief Justice Jo and court administrator No as emergency witnesses at a hearing set for Monday.
Legislation and Judiciary Committee member Rep. Kim Ki-pyo, appearing on the YouTube program "Kim Eou-joon's Humility Is Hard News Factory," said the move appeared designed to "nominate someone Cheong Wa Dae won't accept anyway — since the recommendation committee won't be reconstituted — and then reconstitute the committee on their own terms." He added that if Chief Justice Jo is found to have directed the move, "it could lead to impeachment."
The People Power Party pushed back, accusing the Democratic Party of encroaching on judicial independence. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said at his party's supreme council meeting Monday that consulting and coordinating with the president in advance "would itself constitute a violation of judicial independence," adding that demanding or compelling such coordination "is unconstitutional in and of itself."
Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik also criticized the decision to summon Chief Justice Jo and the court administrator as witnesses, calling it a plan to hold "an extortion hearing that humiliates them with impeachment threats to pressure their resignation." He said the written nomination was legally unproblematic and argued that the Democratic Party's impeachment talk amounted to "political retaliation" over the court's decision to remand President Lee's case with a guilty finding.
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