Kim Min-seok, leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 16th that calls to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de have become widespread, signaling that the party has begun formal discussions on the option. "Broad demands are already being made about the 'i' in impeachment," Kim said. "You could say we have begun discussing every issue, every method and every possible route."
Kim made the remarks by phone on "Minty 07," a program on the party's official YouTube channel, Democratic Party TV. The comments suggest that the party leadership, which had urged Jo to step down voluntarily while avoiding talk of impeachment, is now weighing a fuller range of responses, including removal from office.
"Up to a certain point, we thought it was better not to even mention the 'i' in impeachment and instead give the public a deep and sufficient explanation, and we proceeded that way," Kim said. "Now we are putting together a comprehensive case for why he must resign."
At a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the 14th, Kim said the party was "practically reviewing every option to correct the chief justice's wrongdoing," and warned that "both the public and the Democratic Party clearly have limits to their patience."
Calls for impeachment have also come from within the party. Kim Ki-pyo and Park Kyoun-taek, Democratic Party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, appeared on the same program and argued that Jo should be impeached. Kim Ki-pyo criticized remarks Jo made at a recent parliamentary audit suggesting that it was unconstitutional for the National Assembly to review the chief justice's exercise of his power to nominate justices. "That is an extremely unconstitutional idea, statement and attitude," he said. "The grounds for impeachment are more than ample. He must be impeached now, at this juncture, without condition."
Asked about the risk of a backlash, Kim Ki-pyo said that "results vary by poll, but I understand that a majority of the public supports impeaching Jo Hee-de." He added: "If the Democratic Party, as the governing party with a majority of seats, does not move to impeach despite these grounds, its commitment to defending the constitution will be questioned." Park also called for impeachment, citing Jo's rejection of the constitutional provision on the president's appointment authority and his refusal to take the witness oath at the parliamentary audit. "At the very least, the time has come to consider impeachment," he said.
Alongside his criticism of Jo, Kim Min-seok urged the court to extend the detention of Kim Keon-hee, the former president's wife. Referring to a post he published on social media the previous day, he said: "Her detention is set to expire at the end of this month, and in the current situation it is only natural for the Supreme Court to extend it." He added: "Unless the court intends, calculates and has resolved to release Kim Keon-hee, it must rule on the extension of detention requested by the special counsel."
In the social media post, Kim Min-seok wrote: "Lightning for Lee Jae-myung, a tortoise for Kim Keon-hee, cold abstraction for citizens, softness for himself. What is the Supreme Court, and what is justice? Unless it has resolved to let her out, it must extend the detention." The reference to "lightning for Lee Jae-myung" points to the ruling handed down nine days after President Lee Jae-myung's election law violation case was referred to the full Supreme Court bench last year, while "cold abstraction for citizens, softness for himself" is read as targeting allegations that Jo improperly used his official expense account. "He said he 'did not know' about the expense account issue — what kind of justice is that?" Kim Min-seok said. "Isn't there a question being raised about whether the Supreme Court can hold itself to a different standard of justice than the one applied to citizens?"