Ruling bloc lawmakers held a public hearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday to press for the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, though Democratic Party of Korea leadership distanced itself from the effort.
"After the passage of the three judicial reform bills, the Chief Justice should have resigned, not the National Court Administration chief, but he is brazenly staying in his position," Rep. Min Hyung-bae of the Democratic Party said at the event. "This makes judicial reform difficult and, more importantly, makes it very difficult to resolve the insurrection issue."
Min said impeachment was the only way forward. "We have already prepared an impeachment motion. Several lawmakers including Rep. Choi Hyuk-jin are ready to introduce it, but we arranged this hearing to gather opinions first," he said.
Rep. Cho Gye-won of the Democratic Party alleged the Chief Justice "may have sided with the martial law declaration" and argued that "true judicial independence must begin with Chief Justice Cho's resignation. If he refuses to step down, impeachment proceedings must begin."
Rep. Kim Byung-joo of the Democratic Party called Chief Justice Cho's impeachment "the final stop in eradicating the December 3 insurrection," pledging to "fight until the end to impeach and investigate Chief Justice Cho and bring him to court."
Rep. Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party said she would "stand together until Chief Justice Cho steps down," arguing his resignation was necessary "to restore the collapsed democracy" following the Supreme Court's ruling to remand the case involving presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung.
Independent Rep. Choi Hyuk-jin, who organized the hearing, said impeachment was "completely justified because Chief Justice Cho is at the center of violating constitutional order and undermining the basic principle of separation of powers."
Despite the calls, Democratic Party chief spokesperson Park Soo-hyun said the party leadership "has no plans to discuss Chief Justice Cho's impeachment." He explained that party leader Jung's pressure on the Chief Justice was "a message clearly explaining to the public why judicial reform needed to pass at this point." The clarification appeared aimed at containing concerns about hardliners within the party.