The Democratic Party of Korea has floated a parliamentary probe instead of moving immediately to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, prompting the party's pro-Jung Chung-rae faction and the Rebuilding Korea Party to demand immediate impeachment. The split pits the ruling party leadership's call for a slower approach against hardliners pressing for an immediate vote on removing the head of the judiciary.
Cho Kye-won, the Democratic Party's spokesperson, told reporters on the 21st after a meeting of the party's supreme council that the party is "reviewing a parliamentary probe as a procedure to verify specific grounds after the parliamentary audit" in connection with the chief justice's impeachment. Asked whether the probe was intended to support an impeachment motion against Jo, the spokesperson said it "can be seen in the context of shedding more light on the grounds for impeachment together with the public and building public opinion." The party plans to begin discussing in earnest whether to launch the probe as soon as the parliamentary audit ends later this month.
The ruling party leadership's turn toward a probe reflects caution within the party. Jo's term ends in June next year, and there is considerable concern that forcing through the impeachment of the judiciary's chief could draw accusations of infringing on judicial independence and trigger a public backlash. Some in political circles say that because negotiating and conducting a parliamentary probe takes dozens of days, the leadership may in effect be looking for an exit strategy from impeachment.
Hardliners within the party, by contrast, pressed the leadership hard. Rep. Jung Chung-rae wrote on Facebook on the same day that "no matter how much you talk about the aftershocks and pull out the parliamentary probe card, the public will suspect that this is being done to avoid impeaching Jo Hee-de," adding that "the best course is not to stall for time but to make a bold decision to impeach Jo Hee-de now."
Han Min-soo, a supreme council member aligned with the pro-Jung faction, said at the supreme council meeting that "we must not delay a decision and miss the moment," adding that "the party must quickly decide whether to move an impeachment motion against the chief justice." Choi Min-hee, another supreme council member, also said on Facebook that "I respect the call for caution on impeaching Jo Hee-de, but I find it hard to agree."
The Rebuilding Korea Party also called on the ruling party to act on impeachment immediately. Kim Joon-hyung, the party's floor leader, visited Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do on the same day and delivered an impeachment motion the party had drafted itself. Kim also sent a letter to every Democratic Party lawmaker urging them to move the impeachment motion.
Meanwhile, some within the ruling bloc say the key variable for the impeachment debate is whether Kim Keon-hee, the former first lady, is released when her detention period expires later this month. The view is that if the Supreme Court rejects the special counsel team's request for a detention warrant on its own authority and Kim is freed, hardliners in the ruling bloc will press uncontrollably for impeachment regardless of the leadership's intent to slow the pace.