The presidential office on the 15th said it "agrees in principle" with remarks by Choo Mi-ae, Democratic Party of Korea Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, who called for Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to resign. This came a day after Chief Justice Cho opposed the ruling camp's push to overhaul the judicial system and to establish a special court for insurrection, and after the party publicly pressed him to step down. The presidential office explained that it agreed with the president's comment that elected power has a "relative advantage" among the three branches (legislative, judicial, executive), but it also stoked controversy by unilaterally deleting the problematic remark from the official transcript, an official record.
Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung of the presidential office said at a morning briefing that while there was "no particular position" on Chairperson Choo's claim, "If the National Assembly seeks to reflect the spirit of the Constitution and the will of the people through deliberation and discussion, it can be considered the highest-priority elected power. If there are demands of the times and of the people, those in appointed power need to look back at the plausibility and reasons for those demands, and in that sense, we agree in principle."
The presidential office later issued an additional statement in the name of the Spokesperson, saying, "The National Assembly reflects the spirit of the Constitution and the will of the people through deliberation and discussion, and the presidential office's point is that it is necessary to look back at the plausibility and reasons for the public and historical demands." The phrase "agree in principle" appears to reflect internal concern that it could be seen as pressure from the presidential office on the judiciary. The Spokesperson's remarks were already broadcast live on KTV and other channels.
About 30 minutes later, Spokesperson Kang returned to the briefing room and said, "I will offer another explanation for the misreading of the briefing's intent by cutting the context before and after the remarks." As for media reports that the presidential office said it "agrees in principle" with the call for Chief Justice Cho's resignation at the first briefing, Kang claimed they were "false reports." Kang said the office was expressing agreement with the president's remarks at the 100-day press conference, and that there was "no" position related to the call for the chief justice's resignation.
Spokesperson Kang said, "As the president said at the 100-day press conference, there should be respect for elected power, and appointed power is also secondary power to elected power," adding, "As appointed power, we need to listen carefully to the demands of elected power and look back at why such demands exist." Kang also said, "Describing it as agreement in principle reflects respect for the separation of powers and elected power, and it emphasizes the president's words," adding, "The primary answer is that there is no specific position."
The point was that there is nothing problematic about the "agree in principle" remark. However, the Spokesperson's Office deleted the controversial remark from the briefing transcript, a presidential record. The original remark was, "As appointed authority, shouldn't we look back at the plausibility of that demand and its reasons? In that sense, we very much agree in principle." The transcript, by contrast, was revised to, "As appointed authority, I think we should look back at the plausibility of that demand and its reasons." After reporters raised the issue, the office reuploaded the transcript including the remark about 50 minutes later.
Earlier, on the 11th, at a press conference marking 100 days in office, President Lee said of the constitutional controversy over the Democratic Party's push for a special court for insurrection, "How is that unconstitutional?" and added, "There is a misunderstanding about the separation of powers: judicial independence does not mean the judiciary can do whatever it wants. The people's sovereign will is most important." Lee also said, "The judiciary makes judgments according to the Constitution and conscience within the structure set by the legislature." The remarks can be interpreted to mean that the National Assembly stands above the judiciary.