Responding to Jang Dong-hyeok's claim that the Democratic Party should simply reject nominees after Lee's appointment, Cho argues accepting that path would legitimize Jo's unilateral recommendation

Also calls for abolition of the Court Administration Office, calling it the core of judicial reform since the Roh government

Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute, speaks at a policy forum on strategies for the Honam semiconductor cluster, held at MSL Prima Art Hall in Buk-gu, Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, on Sept. 3. [Yonhap]
Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute, speaks at a policy forum on strategies for the Honam semiconductor cluster, held at MSL Prima Art Hall in Buk-gu, Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, on Sept. 3. [Yonhap]

Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute, sharply criticized Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae on Friday, saying "the root of every problem, setting aside legal theory, lies in the Supreme Court's refusal to recognize President Lee Jae Myung."

Cho made the remarks in a Facebook post, urging readers to "imagine how the justices who handed down a guilty ruling and remanded the case just before the presidential election view President Lee."

He added that while the suspension of Lee's trial under the Constitution was something "even the legal elite had no choice but to accept," the Supreme Court was now willing to "clash with legal principle and convention" to block the president from shaping the court's composition.

Even so, Cho said, "a president is a president," arguing that while judicial independence must be respected, "the Supreme Court must not be allowed to encroach on the president's authority." He added that the vacant seat should be filled "through fresh consultations with a new chief justice," and that "the arrogant political conduct of the Jo court must not be accommodated."

On the argument that President Lee should simply appoint a nominee and let the National Assembly reject the candidate, Cho said that approach "would amount to recognizing the legitimacy of Chief Justice Jo's unilateral recommendation and could set a precedent for the same thing happening again." He said that was precisely why he had argued the president should demand that the chief justice submit a new recommendation.

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok had earlier appeared on the Maeil Business News YouTube channel and, citing the Democratic Party's rejection of the Supreme Court justice nominee, said the party "has more than enough seats" to block the appointment. He argued the move was aimed at "creating a precedent in which the president forces the chief justice to nominate his own picks as justices."

Turning to the Democratic Party, Cho questioned whether hanging banners calling for Chief Justice Jo's resignation would actually make him step down, and urged the party to "make the decisive move to abolish the Court Administration Office" — a policy the Rebuilding Korea Party has championed and submitted as legislation.

He described the measure as "the core of judicial reform aimed at eliminating the ills of an imperial presidency, going back to the Roh Moo-hyun government," and asked whether backing away from reform out of concern for conservative opinion amid falling approval ratings would actually lift those ratings. "Push forward with reform to reclaim governing momentum and rebuild your support base," he said.


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