People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok [Newsis]
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok [Newsis]

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok on Thursday condemned the Democratic Party for heaping insults on Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae, saying the attacks amounted to an affront to the judiciary and the public.

Writing on his Facebook page, Jang said the Democratic Party had "forced Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae to take a witness oath and bombarded him with unconstitutional questions," calling it "a clear violation of the separation of powers and an act of parliamentary insurrection."

Jang also rebuffed the Democratic Party's move to raise questions about Jo's corporate credit card use, saying, "The true master of legal manipulation is President Lee Jae Myung."

He said that if the Democratic Party genuinely wanted to get to the bottom of the issue surrounding the reappointment of Supreme Court justices, it should summon President Lee rather than Chief Justice Jo. "It was President Lee Jae Myung who insisted it had to be Judge Kim Min-gi and no one else," Jang said.

"The Democratic Party is heaping every manner of insult on the chief justice," he said. "This is not an insult to him as an individual — it is an insult to the Republic of Korea's judiciary and an insult to the people."

Jang urged Jo to resume President Lee's trial as soon as possible. "Trust the people and restart the trial at the earliest opportunity," he said.


husn7@heraldcorp.com