The Rebuilding Korea Party on the 19th unveiled a motion to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de and called on the Democratic Party of Korea to join in coordinated action, including a joint task force and a joint caucus meeting.
Shin Jang-sik, leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, explained the rationale for the impeachment push at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, saying the chief justice "is nothing but a symbol of illegality and legal maneuvering, and not an inch of unconstitutional, illegal or evasive political conduct should be tolerated."
"Just as we defeated the Dec. 3 insurrection, the National Assembly must end the judicial coup," Shin said. "The only ones talking about a backlash are the remnants of the insurrection in the People Power Party and the forces backing former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Right now the people's wishes have become a wind, and it is blowing in our favor."
Shin also criticized the court's handling of two high-profile cases. "In the case of candidate Lee Jae-myung last May, the records ran to tens of thousands of pages, yet it was referred to the full bench and a ruling was handed down in nine days. Meanwhile, the trial of Kim Keon-hee was sent to the Supreme Court's full bench and is being dragged out as long as possible," he said. "This is the same behavior as political prosecutors who let one side off the hook by any means while tying down the other."
The motion presented by the party lists three core grounds for impeachment. Seo Sang-beom, chair of the party's party affairs audit committee, read out a summary of the alleged constitutional and legal violations, citing as the first ground the Supreme Court's ruling last May that overturned and remanded the case involving President Lee Jae-myung's alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act. The party argues that the extraordinarily swift handling of the case gravely infringed on the right to a fair trial by independent judges and on public officials' duty of political neutrality.
The refusal and delay in nominating Supreme Court justice candidates was also specified as a core constitutional violation. The party said the chief justice's refusal of the president's request to re-nominate justices amounted to a dereliction of duty that abandoned the nomination obligation set out in the Constitution, and a grave act that infringed on the president's substantive authority to appoint Supreme Court justices. It further stated that the illegal payment of bonuses to Supreme Court justices and the improper use of operating expenses, revealed by a Board of Audit and Inspection review, constitute embezzlement and loss of state funds under the Act on Aggravated Punishment, and that his refusal to take the oath after appearing at the parliamentary audit also violated the law on testimony and appraisal before the National Assembly.
The Rebuilding Korea Party strongly urged the Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the National Assembly, to take part in order to pass the impeachment motion. "The people are demanding clear, visible action," Shin said. "Let us begin joint action as soon as possible among the democratic and progressive camp, including the Rebuilding Korea Party, and the Democratic Party. A joint task force would be fine, and so would a joint caucus meeting."
Park Byung-eon, spokesperson for the Rebuilding Korea Party, told reporters after the meeting that "all 12 of the party's lawmakers will immediately begin delivering the impeachment motion and letters to Democratic Party lawmakers." The spokesperson added, "With the re-nomination of Supreme Court justices refused, there is a strong chance the paralysis at the Supreme Court will continue until the chief justice's term expires in June next year, so this is the moment for the Democratic Party to take a responsible position."
The spokesperson also said there is "a strong need to suspend the Supreme Court's functions through passage of the impeachment motion and bring it back to normal," adding that "as soon as floor leader Kim Joon-hyung returns to the country tomorrow, we will move quickly to hold talks between floor leaders and push the discussion forward within this week."