The Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly adopted a large number of former and incumbent legal figures, including Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, as witnesses for the upcoming parliamentary audit. It is seen as pressure from the National Assembly to have Cho return to testify after he failed to appear at a hearing on the "presidential election interference allegations" led by the Democratic Party of Korea.
At a full committee meeting on the 30th, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee put the motion to summon witnesses and reference witnesses for the 2025 parliamentary audit to a vote and passed it under the ruling party's lead by 10 in favor and 5 against among 15 members present. The People Power Party strongly objected, calling it a retaliatory decision for the failure to appear at the hearing.
The approved list includes, in connection with the "presidential election interference allegations," Chief Justice Cho; former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo; Ji Gwi-yeon, presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court; Supreme Court justices Oh Kyung-mi, Lee Heung-gu, Lee Suk-yeon, and Park Young-jae; Oh Min-seok, chief judge of the Seoul Central District Court; Ko Hong-seok, chief judicial researcher of the Supreme Court; and Lee Young-jin, chief criminal researcher of the Supreme Court, as general witnesses.
As reference witnesses, journalist Jeong Gyu-jae, who raised the election interference allegations; attorney Kim Kyung-ho, who filed a complaint against Chief Justice Cho; and a reporter surnamed Kang, related to observing Presiding Judge Ji's trial, were listed.
The People Power Party protested that the list of general and reference witnesses was unilaterally distributed with additions. People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Gyu-taek said, "Originally, the list for the ruling and opposition parties' Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit had a total of 109 general and reference witnesses, but now there is another list numbered up to 23. The chief justice, Supreme Court justices, and judges are included," criticizing, "We had agreed to decide the audit witnesses through consultation, but right before the vote, another list that had not been agreed upon by the parties was added to the agenda."
He criticized, "When the list of 109 was set, it had been discussed in advance that the chief justice, Supreme Court justices, and judges would not be included as general or reference witnesses, but that agreement was ignored," adding, "Using the failure to appear at the hearing as a reason to retaliatorily stuff in the chief justice, Supreme Court justices, and judges for a vote is oppression of the judiciary."
The existing list included former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung; former Gyeonggi Province vice governor for peace Lee Hwa-young; Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) President Kim Dong-cheol; KH Group Chairman Bae Sang-yoon; and attorney Nam Wook related to the Daejang-dong allegations. As reference witnesses, attorney Han Dong-soo, a former head of the Inspection Department at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office; Lee Rae-jin, a family member of the civil servant killed in the West Sea; and Song Hae-jin, operations director of the 10·29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Council, were listed.
At the full committee meeting that day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee also passed, by a vote of 9 in favor, 4 against, and 1 abstention among 14 members present, a motion to additionally summon attorney Kim Kyung-ho and a reporter surnamed Kang as reference witnesses for an emergency pending-issue hearing related to Chief Justice Cho's presidential election interference allegations.
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee's parliamentary audit is scheduled to be held from the 13th to the 31st of next month. The Democratic Party decided a plan to add one more day to the Supreme Court audit—originally set for the 13th—by adding the 15th, and on the 15th to conduct the audit at the Supreme Court in an on-site inspection format.
With the chief justice and Supreme Court justices included on the witness list by a ruling party-only vote, there is speculation that an unprecedented scene in constitutional history could unfold. However, it remains uncertain whether they will actually appear at the audit venue.