The Democratic Party of Korea on the 29th stated regarding the campaign promise of presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung to propose reforms to the judiciary and prosecution that, "This is not a political frame aimed at 'taming' the judiciary," and noted, "Everyone agrees that improvements or changes to the judiciary are necessary."
Senior Spokesperson Cho Seung-rae responded to a question from reporters at the Democratic Party of Korea's central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, in the morning, regarding the inclusion of reform promises related to the judiciary in the campaign platform, despite the directive to withdraw related bills, saying, "Everyone agrees that improvements or changes to the judiciary are necessary."
Senior Spokesperson Cho stated, "This is not a political frame aimed at 'taming' the judiciary," and added, "Even right now, the Supreme Court has a significant backlog of cases. How to solve this problem is an old homework problem."
He continued, "To solve this homework problem, discussions about a high court within the Supreme Court have emerged, and there have also been calls for an expansion of the number of Supreme Court justices," and said, "Naturally, there may be different opinions on what an appropriate level for expansion would be."
Senior Spokesperson Cho expressed, "We believe that judiciary reform is certainly necessary to enhance the judicial benefits for the people right now," and explained, "This part was similarly included as a campaign promise in the last presidential election three years ago."
Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea announced its policy campaign platform for the 21st presidential election on the previous day (28th). This platform included reforms to the judiciary and prosecution, with key contents such as an increase in the number of Supreme Court justices, the establishment of a judges' evaluation committee, separation of investigation and prosecution functions, and the introduction of a system for the discipline and dismissal of prosecutors.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea recently requested the withdrawal of the 'Non-Lawyer Supreme Court Justice Appointment Act' and the 'Supreme Court Justice Expansion Bill' proposed by its affiliated lawmakers. The party stated that this decision was made to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings from arising.