The ruling and opposition parties clashed once again over the Supreme Court’s remand decision in the case of President Lee Jae-myung’s viola...
The ruling and opposition parties clashed once again over the Supreme Court’s remand decision in the case of President Lee Jae-myung’s violation of the Public Official Election Act during a National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit at the Supreme Court on the 15th. The Democratic Party of Korea announced it would directly verify whether the Supreme Court’s full bench trial of the president’s case was rushed, while the People Power Party protested, calling the “unprecedented on-site verification a clear judicial intervention.” The Supreme Court audit that day was marked by continuous clashes and chaos.
Around noon, the audit began to derail when Choo Mi-ae, the Democratic Party member and chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, suddenly declared an on-site verification. Chairperson Choo stated, “We will begin the Supreme Court on-site verification” to “examine the legitimacy of the full bench’s remand decision process.” In response, People Power Party lawmakers collectively protested, calling it “a moment when the separation of powers collapses” and an “unconstitutional and illegal audit.” However, Chairperson Choo requested guidance from Chun Dae-yup, head of the National Court Administration. A physical altercation briefly occurred when Song Seok-jun, a People Power Party lawmaker, blocked the entrance to the main conference room where the audit was taking place.
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This caused the audit to stall for over three hours. The Democratic Party’s forced on-site verification aimed to directly check log records by searching the justices’ PCs to determine if the full bench’s ruling on the president’s case was rushed. The Supreme Court stated that it accepted the case on March 28 of last year and conducted deliberations for about a month before delivering a guilty verdict on May 1. However, the ruling party coalition suspects that Chief Justice Jo Hee-de rushed the ruling to influence the presidential election.
Before the on-site verification, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee abruptly passed a motion requiring Chief Justice Jo and the justices to submit records of their access to the case files and computer system logs related to the president’s case. The original motion stated, “Submit documents related to the full bench’s deliberation and judgment process,” but it was hastily amended by striking through the phrase “deliberation and judgment process” with a pen before passage. This appears to have been an urgent revision to avoid controversy over the National Assembly’s “judicial intervention.”
Regarding this, People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Gyu-taek said, “(The Democratic Party) is trying to interfere with the Supreme Court’s ruling with hastily amended documents that don’t meet formal requirements, with two lines struck through in pen.” Lawmaker Shin Dong-wook criticized, “This is the Democratic Party’s legislative insurrection.”
◇Ruling Party Stirs Supreme Court Without Reviewing Records
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which had suspended the audit due to Chairperson Choo’s on-site verification declaration, proceeded to negotiate with the Supreme Court regarding the scope and method of verification. The Supreme Court reportedly maintained its stance that “the trial process of a specific case cannot be disclosed.” During lunchtime, Chief Justice Jo and some justices had a meal with the committee members inside the Supreme Court.
Around 3:30 p.m., Chairperson Choo resumed the audit, stating, “We will conduct the on-site verification under the guidance of the National Court Administration,” and immediately 11 ruling party coalition lawmakers proceeded with the verification.
However, the trial records of the president’s case, which the Democratic Party had demanded, were excluded from the verification. Only an investigation into the court’s facilities related to the expansion of justices was conducted. The lawmakers toured the main and smaller courtrooms on the second floor and the justices’ offices on the ninth floor for about 20 minutes. They reportedly confirmed the spaces and resources necessary for the justices’ trial work. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min stated, “We confirmed whether the Supreme Court needs to be expanded if the number of justices increases and how offices would be arranged.” This was the first time lawmakers had conducted an on-site investigation by touring the Supreme Court.
People Power Party lawmakers declared the audit derailed, calling the on-site verification “illegal,” and left the audit venue. Lawmaker Na Kyung-won criticized, “The Democratic Party is stirring up the Supreme Court by forcibly conducting an illegal on-site verification. This is no different from occupying the court,” and asked, “Does this not mean they want to place the judiciary under their feet?”
The remaining audit proceeded with only the ruling party coalition lawmakers. Around 8:30 p.m., Chief Justice Jo Hee-de visited the audit venue and made closing remarks, saying, “We will do our best to improve any shortcomings by carefully examining the people’s expectations and demands.” However, Democratic Party lawmakers kept Chief Justice Jo standing for about 30 minutes, pressing him with questions such as, “Why did you rush the trial of the president’s case?”
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